Both sides came into the tie needing victory with Sri Lanka dominating the early proceedings with Ahmed Razeek playing a neat through ball to Samuel Durrant but his advance was thwarted  by Chinese Taipei’s Hsieh Ming-You.

Chinese Taipei were limited to counter-attacks but they almost made one count in the 16th minute when Chen Po-Liang found space at the top of the box and forced Sri Lanka keeper Sujan Perera into a brilliant save.

Sri Lanka came close to breaking the deadlock in the 21st minute when Adhavan Rajamohan laid the ball nicely for Claudio Kammerknecht, but the Dynamo Dresden player fired his shot just wide of the left post.

The pressure from Sri Lanka almost bore fruit in the 35th minute when a wayward backpass from Jhon Benchy was intercepted by Durrant but Huang Chiu-Lin produced a sprawling save to keep his side level.

The pattern continued at the start of the second half with Sri Lanka taking the lead in the 49th minute when Dillon De Silva found Rajamohan, who controlled the ball with his left foot before finishing with his right.

The South Asian side doubled their tally in the 53rd minute after Wu Chun-Ching was dispossessed by De Silva, who finished with aplomb from inside the area.

Chinese Taipei were caught again five minutes later with Razeek combining with Anujan Rajendram in a swift move on the right before striking the ball off a rebound from Huang Tzu-Ming’s clearance.

The East Asian side reduced the deficit in the 69th minute through Huang Wei-Chieh, who volleyed home Emilio Estevez’s set-piece from close range but Sri Lanka held firm to take the points.