Australia dominated possession in the first half but with Afghanistan happy to soak up pressure and look to play on the break, chances were few and far in between.

A half-chance did appear for Australia a minute prior to the interval when Zane Schreiber's cross from the left found Thomas Waddingham but the latter couldn't find the right connection with his volleyed attempt.

Australia started the second half well and had an effort on target in the 50th minute after Waddingham climbed highest to head a corner kick delivery which needed Afghanistan custodian Faisal Saeed to push away.

The breakthrough finally came in the 84th minute, when Saeed left his line in trying to win the ball only for Tiago Quintal to get to the ball first before laying it for Luka Jovanovic to sweep into a gaping goalmouth.

Australia sealed the points in the third minute of added time after Jovanovic converted a penalty following Ahmad Shekib Mehri's handball in trying to stop Quintal's cross.

Wednesday's fixtures will see Australia face Macau while Afghanistan will want to bounce back when they take on Saudi Arabia.

It didn't take long for Palestine to start testing Lam Chak Fung in Macau's goal, Monir Albadarin’s long range drive forcing the goalkeeper to tip the ball over in the 15th minute.

From the ensuing corner kick, Palestine went ahead when Macau failed to clear the danger, allowing Basim Elhaj to slam the ball home.

Macau threatened with captain Lei Cheng Lam's free-kick making Palestine goalkeeper Rami Jabreen scramble across his line, only for the effort to sail just over.

Then with four minutes of the half remaining, Palestine spurned a great opportunity when Albadarin blazed his shot over the bar despite having almost an entire empty goal to aim at.

That miss came back to bite Palestine in the second minute of added time when Lei produced a lob from inside his own half that looked to be short but Jabreen mistimed his touch and allowed the ball to bounce away from him and into the net.

Things got worse for Palestine in the 61st minute as substitute Zacarias Abuhadba was sent off for kicking out at Leong Ka Fat after the duo were involved in a tussle.

Despite playing with a player less, Palestine kept pushing for a winner but it was to be in vain as Macau held out for a share of the spoils.