Kim Chi Woo saves South Korea in the dying minutes

Kim Chi Woo scored in the dying minutes of injury time to earn a 1-1 draw for overwhelming favourites South Korea and deny Lebanon a famous win in Beirut in their 2014 World Cup Asian zone Group A qualifier on Tuesday.

Hassan Maatouk had put Lebanon ahead in the 12th minute and it looked like after missing a host of chances the Koreans would return home pointless but Woo saved their blushes with a well delivered freekick in the seventh minute of time added on by Australian referee Ben Williams.

The draw helped South Korea go top of the group with 11 points from six matches, the same as Uzbekistan, but ahead with a better goal difference.

Iran are on their heels after they beat Qatar 1-0 on Tuesday and are just a point behind with all three having two games to play. With just the top two teams qualifying from the group and the third advancing to a playoff, Lebanon have no chance of travelling to Brazil as they have just five points from seven matches.

Goalkeeper Abbas Hassan was the star for Lebanon as he saved one Korean attempt after another, till Woo got past him with his free kick just outside the box. But even that was possible only after a slight deflection from the Lebanon wall left Hassan out of position.

Having won five of their previous seven matches against Lebanon and given their status in Asian football, Korea were expected to turn the match into a stroll in the park. But once Maatouk put the home side ahead when he latched on to a Mohamad Haidar cross and slammed the ball past Jung Sungryong in a crowded Korean box, it was an uphill battle for the visitors.

Hassan made two stunning saves in the space of three minutes in the 32nd and 34th minutes when he dived to his right to stop a perfect downward header from Lee Chung Yong, and then leapt high to tip over Woo's curling free kick.

Korea's best chance in the first half was in time added on of the first half when Lee Dong Gook found himself right in front of the goal, but he smashed it over the bar following a superb cross from Kim Bokyung.

The game continued in the same fashion following the break, Hassan's outstretched leg denied substitute Kim Shinwook in the 55th minute, and four minutes later the same player headed a well-measured Woo pass over the bar with the goal at his mercy.

Abbas then had to show his magic repeatedly as the Koreans made one move after the other. And if the visitors somehow got past the tall goalkeeper, they invariably found the woodwork before they finally managed to get through with Woo's last-minute free kick.