Saudi Arabia advanced to the knockout stage of the Asian Cup with a game to spare after beating nine-man Kyrgyzstan 2-0 on Sunday.
Goals in each half from Mohamed Kanno and Faisal Al-Ghamdi at the Ahmad bin Ali Stadium in Al-Rayyan, Qatar, put the three-time champions in first place in Group F.
The Saudis have six points from two games and are two points ahead of Thailand, who earlier drew 0-0 with Oman. Third-place Oman have one point and Kyrgyzstan are pointless.
The task for Saudi Arabia was made much easier by Kyrgyzstan, who were making only their second appearance in the tournament, having a player sent off early in each half.
First to go was Aizar Akmatov for a rash challenge on Sami Al-Naji after just eight minutes.
Kanno broke the deadlock 10 minutes before the break, volleying home Saud Abdulhamid's cross at the far post.
Seven minutes into the second half, Kimi Merk was also shown a red for a dangerous tackle.
It resulted in almost constant pressure from Saudi Arabia and, with six minutes remaining, Al-Ghamdi’s long-range shot took a deflection and went through the hands of the otherwise impressive Erzhan Tokotaev in goal.
"It is difficult to play against Saudi Arabia with 11 players but with nine it is too difficult," Tajikistan captain Tamirlan Kozubaev said. "We did our best."
Earlier, Thailand moved closer to securing a spot in the knockout stage of the Asian Cup after drawing 0-0 with Oman on Sunday.
There was little attacking action of note at the Abdullah bin Khalifa Stadium in Doha with a close-range header from Elias Dolah of Thailand in the 15th minute almost crossing the line before it was cleared.
Oman, who lost their opening game against Saudi Arabia, struggled to break through the committed Thailand defence. Issam Al-Sabhi came closest with a shot that was saved late in the game.
"We are so happy to get one point and everybody worked hard for each other," Thailand defender Pansa Hemviboom said. "We communicated well as a team to get this result."
Oman, with just a point from their opening two games, need a win in their final group match against Kyrgyzstan to keep alive hopes of a place in the knockout stage.
The top two teams from each of the six groups advance, along with the four best runners-up.
Vardy eyes 100-point season after Leicester's title win
Jamie Vardy has challenged his Leicester City team-mates to reach 100 points after sealing the Championship title with one game to spare.
The Foxes were promoted back to the Premier League without kicking a ball after Leeds United’s 4-0 defeat to QPR on Friday, but they needed to win on Monday to earn top spot.
Enzo Maresca’s side cruised to a 3-0 victory over Preston through Vardy’s brace and Kasey McAteer’s header, moving them to 97 points.
With one last milestone in their reach, Vardy wants to make sure they end an already successful season on a high.
Speaking to Sky Sports, he said: “We can celebrate it tonight, but now we have another target which is 100 points.
“We are over the moon. It has gone by quick but it's a graft. Not many days off, I'll tell you that.
“The lads - they've given it all. Thoroughly deserved, and I'm glad we've had 5000 to come and celebrate with us. It's not like it's 20 minutes up the road."
After a run of just three victories from nine games in the league between mid-February and April, Leicester have now won each of their last three outings.
Maresca has praised his players for their hard work in what he labelled a “tough season”.
“Fantastic, it's been a fantastic season. The Championship is a tough season and very intense, but I'm very happy," said Maresca.
"Now it's time to enjoy the work of the season to bring this special club back to the Premier League. We deserve it.
“The last two days they have been fantastic. We got promoted, but it was difficult in game preparation. But we used all of today to prepare for the game, the morning and afternoon. It was good.”
Preston 0-3 Leicester City: Foxes seal Championship title in style
Leicester City cruised to a 3-0 win over Preston in the Championship on Monday to clinch the title with a game to spare.
Jamie Vardy was the star for the Foxes as he scored in both halves before Kasey McAteer made sure of the points with an unmarked header.
Abdul Fatawu had the chance to cap an already memorable night for the travelling fans but hit the post with his curler.
Preston slumped to a fourth consecutive defeat, while Leicester go into their final game against Blackburn Rovers with the knowledge that they will lift the trophy after the final whistle.
Data Debrief
Jamie Vardy has scored 18 goals this season (two in this game), more than any other Leicester player in the competition. He has also netted in his last three games, scoring four goals in total.
It was a dominant performance from the Foxes, who had 19 shots with 11 of those on target. At the other end, Preston only managed to test Jakub Stolarczyk once from their five attempts.
Al-Khaleej 0-1 Al-Nassr: Ronaldo misfires on return as Laporte nets winner
Cristiano Ronaldo returned from suspension but failed to find the net as Al-Nassr secured a 1-0 win over Al-Khaleej on Saturday, with Aymeric Laporte coming up with the decisive goal.
Ronaldo was in action for the first time since being sent off for an elbow in a 2-1 Saudi Super Cup loss to Al-Hilal earlier this month, with his initial two-match ban being reduced to one on appeal.
He missed three good chances as Al-Nassr threatened to fall further behind runaway Saudi Pro League leaders Al-Hilal, but former Manchester City defender Laporte spared his blushes by nodding Marcelo Brozovic's deep free-kick into the bottom-left corner with 68 minutes gone.
Al-Nassr remain nine points adrift of Al-Hilal at the summit in spite of their win, with Jorge Jesus' team unbeaten through 28 games this season as they close in on a record-extending 18th title.
Data Debrief: Ronaldo misfires on return
Ronaldo was presented with the Saudi Pro League's Player of the Month award for March ahead of kick-off, having scored four goals in three league appearances last month.
However, his sights were off on Saturday as he failed to net despite three of the visitors' four big chances, as defined by Opta, falling his way. He led all players on the pitch for expected goals (1.27 xG), shots (five), shots on target (three) and touches in the area (nine) without reward.
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