The result left Group D wide open, with the two-time champions now on four points while Tajikistan remained on three, with their matches on Friday against Oman and Islamic Republic of Iran respectively to determine the two teams going into the knockout stage.
A scrappy first 15 minutes were highlighted by Muhammad Nazriev heading high in front of goal while Kim Yu Jin’s similar attempt at the opposite end dropped straight into Abubakr Rahmonqulov’s arms.
The East Asian side were the more aggressive in attack, with Rahmonqulov getting his hand to Kim Tae Guk’s low shot from 20 yards in the 19th minute and Ri Ro Gwon seeing his attempt from distance skimming over the bar five minutes later.
Rahmonqulov was again at the centre of the action in the 34th minute when he punched clear Yu Jin’s curling shot from a set-piece, only to felled by An Jin Sok in the follow through.
Midfielders Tae Guk and Jin Sok failed to make any headway against a Tajikistan defence which blocked their shots before they could create any damage, and the game remained locked in a stalemate going into the break.
Group D: DPR Korea v Tajikistan
Tajikistan head coach Marco Ragini switched strikers in the second half, sending on Nazrullo Ashuralizoda in place of Zarif Zarifzoda.
But the substitution failed to have its desired effect and instead, it was DPR Korea who finally broke the deadlock five minutes later through Pak Kwang Song, who slammed the ball home after Ro Gwon’s attempt hit Rahmonqulov in the face and rebounded nicely for the midfielder.
Kwang Song got his second in the 58th minute when he latched on to a pass from Yu Jin in the six-yard box and had the easiest of tasks of slipping the ball past a diving Rahmonqulov.
An unmarked Ri Kang Rim put the match beyond Tajikistan’s reach when he headed in a pin-point pass from the left by Tae Guk in the 82nd minute, with the Central Asian side’s misery further compounded following a straight red for Mehrojidin Rozykov in the closing seconds.
