Chinese Taipei, Solomon Islands and Afghanistan shine in Ashgabat

In Group A, Vietnam went down 2-1 to Chinese Taipei as Solomon Islands put four past Hong Kong.

Vietnam, who enjoyed most of the possession, broke the deadlock in the 11th minute through Ngo Ngoc Son but an own goal six minutes later by Le Quoc Nam gave Chinese Taipei a lifeline.

Mehmet Fatih’s men landed the killer blow in the 28th minute through Lai Ming-Hui as Vietnam, who had 51 attempts on goal, could not find a breakthrough.

"We had a match plan and we executed it. We knew we had to defend. It's just five against five. If you don't believe you don't win," said Chinese Taipei coach Fatih. 

"Really we are not good enough. That's the truth. We can only win by defending and we did that very well."

Hong Kong were no match for Solomon Islands as a Makau Coleman Kabini double secured three points for them.

It took Hou Alvin three minutes to find the opener and Sia Marlon added the second two minutes later to give Solomon Islands a two-goal cushion at the break.

Kabini contributed in the 25th and 39th minutes while Hong Kong pulled one back in the 36th through Wong Yiu Fu.

In Group B, a Kazemi Akhbar hat-trick sealed three points for Afghanistan as they hit six past China PR.

Despite having more attempts on goal, China (26 attempts) lacked the scoring touch as it was Afghanistan (18) who were sharper up front.

Hashemi Seyed Mehdi drew first blood in the 12th minute as Afghanistan were 2-0 up at halftime after Haidari Jawad converted from a free-kick two minutes later.

Akhbar, who was kept at bay throughout the first half, finally found the net after the restart as he hit three past the China defence in the 21st, 22nd and 37th minutes.