Brighton's Ryan stars for Australia in Asian Cup shootout win

Brighton's Ryan stars for Australia in Asian Cup shootout win

Brighton goalkeeper Mat Ryan pulled off two penalty shootout saves as Australia knocked out Uzbekistan to progress to the quarter-finals of the Asian Cup.

Australia were off colour for much of the last-16 tie against a team ranked a lowly 95th in the world.

And with both sides failing to break the deadlock over 120 minutes, the match went to penalties.

Ryan, the first-choice regular at the AMEX Stadium, then denied the Uzbekistan pair of Islom Tukhtakhujaev and Marat Bikmaev to seal a 4-2 shootout victory for the holders.

Australia will now face the United Arab Emirates or Kyrgyzstan for a place in the last four.

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