After seeing his side concede seven times in the previous meeting between the nations in September, China PR coach Branko Ivankovic went with a defensive set-up in an effort to limit the space available for the Japanese to exploit.

The approach paid off for much of the first half as the visitors struggled to find a way through, with Takefusa Kubo and Junya Ito frustrated by the number of Chinese players in the final third of the field and Keito Nakamura firing woefully wide.

Cao Yongjing caught Ao Tanaka napping in central midfield on the halfhour mark to create China PR’s first opening of the game, the midfielder feeding Lin but his shot was deflected wide for a corner by Ayumu Seko.

Seven minutes before the interval Wang Dalei was called into action as Kubo almost capped a spell of sustained pressure with a goal, the Shandong Taishan keeper throwing himself to the right to push the ball away for a corner.

It was from the resulting set-piece that the Japanese went in front. Kubo stroked the ball into the penalty area and Ogawa reacted fastest, heading powerfully beyond the helpless goalkeeper.

Another corner, this time delivered by Ito from the opposite side, allowed Japan to double their lead as Koki Machida’s flick on was headed in at close range by the diving Itakura deep into times added on at the end of the half.

China PR pulled one back within three minutes of the restart when a drive through the Japanese midfield resulted in Wei Shihao flicking the ball towards Lin, and he made no mistake with an expertly taken first-time finish into the bottom corner.

Japan’s two-goal cushion was restored six minutes later, however, when Ito delivered an inch-perfect cross from the right after turning the defence for Ogawa to head in his second and confirm the three points for the Samurai Blue.

Japan will meet Bahrain when the AFC Asian Qualifiers resume in March while China PR will take on Saudi Arabia.