There were further opportunities for Korea Republic before half-time through Ahn Sun-hyun, who had a shot saved by Joshua Bentley before firing wide a rebound as UAE held onto their lead going into the break.

The East Asian side came out for the second half determined to put the UAE defence under pressure as Ji-woo flicked an effort narrowly wide while long range strikes from Lee In-woo and Choi Min-jun were thwarted by an alert Bentley.

Against the run of play, UAE missed a chance to double their advantage in the 65th minute when they had a two versus one situation but Jayden Adetiba opted to shoot instead of squaring to Salem Gamal for the tap-in.

That was to prove costly for the UAE as Korea Republic’s persistent attacks eventually paid off in the 88th minute as Choi sent a long diagonal pass to Ahn, who produced immaculate control to set himself up for a low strike past Bentley at the near post to salvage a point for his side.