Tue, 30 Nov, -0001
Ho Chi Minh City: Yang Li scored her fifth goal in two games as China qualified for the semi-finals of the AFC Women’s Asian Cup after beating Myanmar 3-0 in Group B at Thong Nhat Stadium on Saturday and in doing so became the first team to qualify for the 2015 FIFA Women’s World Cup in Canada.
Midfielder Ren Guixin opened the scoring with an acrobatic effort after just nine minutes before second-half substitute Ma Xiaoxu doubled China’s lead a minute before the hour-mark. And with the clock running out there was still time for Yang to net her tournament-leading fifth goal as she headed home with three minutes of the tie remaining.
With the win coming on the backs of a comprehensive 7-0 victory over Thailand in the group opener, eight-times continental champions China maintain their 100% record in the 2014 edition of the tournament to advance to the final four with a game to spare.
In their opening fixture in Group B, Yoshinori Kumada had seen his Myanmar side over-run by Korea Republic in the opening 10 minutes, conceding two early goals on the way to a 7-0 deficit at half-time, and the same fate threatened here as Ren met Gu Yasha’s left-wing cross with an athletic bicycle kick that arced over Mya Phun Ngon and into the net after nine minutes of play.
But any repeat opening of the floodgates failed to transpire as the Southeast Asians stood firm, although Ren could well have doubled her tally on 25 minutes when Wang Chen’s ball over the top fell kindly for the midfielder inside the penalty area, but she screwed her shot dismally wide.
China coach Hao Wei was clearly displeased with his side’s efforts in the final third and threw on striker Yang, scorer of four goals in their opener against Thailand, after the half-hour mark.
But the forward was unable to add to the scoreline before half-time and Myanmar would have been much the happier side going into the interval after a vastly improved defensive performance.
Kumada’s side continued to hold China at bay following the restart and Hao responded by putting on striker Ma after 12 minutes of the second-half.
And the change did the trick just two minutes later as fellow replacement Yang got the better of Mya Phun Ngon inside the penalty area and teed up the substitute to fire into the unguarded net.
The tempo began to drop in the closing minutes of the game as China appeared content with the three points and a place in the knockout stages, while Myanmar seemed satisfied with a respectable result against the East Asian powerhouses and conserving themselves for their crucial final group stage clash with Thailand on Monday and a place at stake in the fifth-place play-off.
But Yang was still determined to get on the scoresheet one more time, not sated after her glut of goals in the opener, and she pounced on captain Wu Haiyan’s right-wing cross to plant a header past Mya Phu Ngon for China’s third.