Afghanistan dominated the opening half but found a Macau side defending deep and in numbers hard to break down.

The Central Asians went down to 10 men in the 40th minute when Enayatullah Kohi was shown a second yellow card for a hefty challenge on Gui Soi Hou.

Despite playing with a man less, Afghanistan continued to attack and two minutes from the break, Ali Reza Rahim’s free-kick set up Esmatullah Hadafmand for a powerful low drive that required Macau custodian Lam Chak Fung to produce a save.

Afghanistan remained the dominant side in the second half and eight minutes in, Farzad Tajik should have done better with his effort, which sailed over the bar. 

Tajik redeemed himself in the 54th minute, laying the ball for Hadafmand to chip over an advancing Lam to give Afghanistan the lead.

Macau tried to find a way back but never looked like they were going to trouble Afghanistan as the Central Asian side comfortably saw off the remainder of the match.

Afghanistan meet Australia on Monday while Macau will aim to bounce back against Palestine. 

It was a balanced start to the match with the only notable early chance falling the way of Saudi Arabia but Saad Haqawi's 15th minute shot from the edge of the box was direct at Palestine goalkeeper Rami Jabreen.

Opportunities continued to fall the way of Saudi Arabia in the first half, twice Haqawi couldn't keep his effort on target before Saud Harun headed wide from a corner kick.

Saudi Arabia's persistent pressure paid off in the 57th minute, a long cross from the left found Ziyad Al Ghamdi who nodded down for Talal Haji, with the Al Ittihad starlet chesting the ball before acrobatically slotting it home.

Palestine offered little going forward with forward Anas Alhamlawi looking very isolated upfront and their hopes of forcing a comeback were made more difficult after Telgie was shown a straight red in the 74th minute for striking Haji's head.

Saudi Arabia could have added a second late on through Thamer Alkhaibari, who saw his attempt from an acute angle hit the post but it made no difference as the hosts went on to claim the win.