Australia had made light work of Li Tie’s side when they met in September, but they were given much more to think about during the early stages of the rematch.

 

Wu Lei tried to punish Australian goalkeeper Mat Ryan when he rushed off his line to divert the ball away from Ai Kesen in the 18th minute, but the talismanic Chinese forward missed the target, in a rare chance for the East Asian side.

In contrast, Australia improved as the first half went on.

 

Ajdin Hrustic had a dangerous free-kick beaten away by Yan Junling, and the Socceroos went ahead seven minutes before half-time, with Martin Boyle’s pinpoint cross headed emphatically home by Duke, who rewarded coach Graham Arnold for promoting him to the starting line up with a fifth goal on the Road to Qatar.

Sharp goalkeeping from Yan prevented Mathew Leckie from adding a second before half-time, but Australia’s tally of 68 per cent possession gave an indication of their growing control.

 

The momentum swung sharply in China PR’s favour when the Video Assistant Referee spotted a handball from James Jeggo, with Wu stepping up to bring his side level with his 12th goal of the campaign with 20 minutes remaining, and Luo Guofu wasn’t too far from curling them ahead just a few minutes later.

Arnold called on attacking substitutes like Jamie Maclaren and Awer Mabil as Australia searched for a winner, but China PR finished the match the stronger, with Ba Dun forcing an important save from Ryan with five minutes remaining.

 

With the points shared, the result adds extra significance to Australia’s clash with Vietnam in late January, while China PR will travel to Japan knowing they must start putting wins on the board if their campaign is to end in success.