AFC Asian Cup Group B: China 2-1 Uzbekistan

Qatar 2011 semi-finalists Uzbekistan drew first blood midway through the opening half thanks to Odil Ahmedov, but China turned the tables on Mirdjalal Kasimov's side after the break with goals from Wu Xi and substitute Sun Ke to grab the three points and the first ticket to the second round from Group B.

Uzbekistan lie third behind Saudi Arabia on goal difference, with DPR Korea at the foot of the table.

The Chinese came close to breaking the deadlock in the fifth minute, when Wu Lei surged through the middle to latch on to a cross from the left, only to miss by inches.

China duly got a taste of their own medicine after 22 minutes when Ahmedov shook off Wu outside the box before letting rip a shot. Wu recovered, sliding in to attempt to block Ahmedov's shot - but only succeeded in changing the trajectory of the ball, which escaped goalkeeper Wang Dalei and bounced into the net.

Uzbekistan took the lead into the break but failed to hold on, as China restored parity on 55 minutes.

Forward Gao Lin set things up with a dazzling assist from the right by-line, flicking the ball into the path of Wu who atoned for his first-half deflection by firing home into the bottom left corner to make it 1-1.

Alain Perrin's side then moved in front through Gao's 66th minute substitute Sun.

Just two minutes after coming on Sun beat Ignatiy Nesterov fair and square from the edge of the box, curling his shot beyond the outstretched arms of the Uzbekistan custodian to hand China the advantage.

China were in the ascendancy, and twice came close to extending their advantage, defender Zhang Linpeng missing a completely free shot from the centre of the penalty area and Sun failing to put away a second in a one-on-one with Nesterov.

Uzbekistan could not claw their way back into the match before the Chinese supporters erupted after three minutes of stoppage time and the final whistle.

Photo: WSG