Brandon Borrello got the nod in attack for Australia, who were missing Adam Taggart, while China PR made four changes to the side that lost to Saudi Arabia on Thursday.

Australia started on the front foot and came close to taking the lead in the fifth minute when China PR failed to deal with a Borrello cross which took a bounce into the trajectory of Martin Boyle, who missed with his right footed effort at the far post.

China PR struggled to make headway in attack and were caught by the quality of Australia in the 16th minute after Irvine collected his deflected shot before finishing with a curling effort past a diving Wang Dalei.

China PR almost unlocked the Australian defence in the 25th minute when Zhang Yuning collected a delightful through ball from inside the box before turning to lose his marker, only to be caught offside.

What should have been a routine save for Wang turned into a disaster for the China PR goalkeeper in the 29th minute. After a poor clearance, Melbourne Victory forward Velupillay pounced on the loose ball and fired a shot from the top of the goalmouth.

China PR went on the offensive in the second half and forced Australia keeper Maty Ryan into a diving save following Serginho’s powerful shot at the top of the box.

Further misses from Behram Abduweli, Zhang Yuning and Yang Zexiang five minutes before the end summed up China PR’s night as they fell further behind in the race to qualify for the playoffs, which will offer an additional two tickets to the global showpiece.