Australia bagged an early goal then soaked up over an hour of pressure to earn a 1-0 win over Uzbekistan in Tashkent on Wednesday in Asian World Cup qualifying.

The Socceroos went ahead through Scott Chipperfield after 25 entertaining minutes, then fended off a string of dangerous Uzbek attacks which yielded nothing but frustrated groans from the capacity crowd.

The win moved Australia into third in Group?One behind leaders Qatar and level on points with Japan.

"It was a tough match for both teams," Australia coach Pim Verbeek said.

"All of my boys did their jobs very well. Uzbekistan held no surprises for me, I knew this team was very good."

Uzbekistan dominated the match but their midfield industriousness was wasted after a string of disappointing crosses and poor set pieces.

Australia got their break against the run of play when Luke Wilkshire skipped over a tackle on the right from Islom Innomov to find the unmarked Chipperfield, who headed the ball off the turf and into the top left corner.

Uzbekistan heaped on the pressure and could have leveled three minutes before the break when Ulugbek Bakaev had his header blocked and fired the loose ball over the bar.

Australia should have put the game beyond the hosts in first half injury time when Mark Bresciano blasted wide a clumsy shot from 20 meters with only the keeper to beat.

Chasing a place at their first World Cup finals, Uzbekistan had more than a handful of second-half chances but were denied by desperate goal-line clearances and misfiring marksman Maksim Shatskikh.

"It was a great performance. The first game of qualifying, you want to get off to a great start which we did," Chipperfield said.

"We're going to be confident going to the next few games now... today's a great bonus for us."

Elsewhere in Asian World Cup qualifiers, Saudi Arabia scored two goals in five thrilling minutes to beat United Arab Emirates 2-1 in Abu Dhabi.

Trailing 1-0 with just over 20 minutes left, the Saudis turned up the heat and stole victory with a stunning second-half goal to earn a share of the Group Two lead with North Korea.

The UAE battled hard and took an unexpected lead on 23 minutes when Subait Khater's misguided corner sailed comically past three defenders and into the net.

The Saudis, chasing a spot at their fifth-successive World Cup finals, showed their class in the second half and exposed the unlucky Emiratis with slick, dangerous counter attacking.

Spearheaded by substitute Yasser al-Kahtani, the Asian player of the year, Saudi Arabia pushed forward and got its goal on 68 minutes when Abdoh Autef's angled shot deflected into the net.

The UAE fought back and had a penalty appeal waved away by the referee as the Saudis charged up the field seeking the winner.

They got it seconds later when substitute Ahmed al-Fraidi, playing his second international, skipped past three defenders before blasting a perfect shot into the goal.

(Agencies via Shanghai Daily September 12, 2008)