China vs Malaysia 2-0

China beat Malaysia 2-0 in Guangzhou, with both goals coming early and the result settled before half-time.

Y. Wang opened the scoring in the 10th minute, finishing Lin Liangming's assist for 1-0, and Zhang Yuning made it 2-0 on 19 minutes from Wang Shangyuan's pass. China were 2-0 up at the break.

Malaysia made two changes at half-time and China also changed their scorer, with Y. Wang coming off in the 46th minute. China then made two changes on 64 minutes, Malaysia made two on 66 and 67 minutes, and a VAR check on 77 minutes ruled out F. Tierney's goal for a foul. China made three changes on 80 minutes, Malaysia made two more on 85 minutes, and Tierney was booked in first-half stoppage time, booked again on 90 minutes and sent off at the same minute. China also had a booking for A. Yang on 90 minutes.

The numbers pointed to a closer game than the scoreline suggested. Malaysia had 57% of possession and 493 passes to China's 371, with pass accuracy at 84% to 83%. Malaysia also had more shots, 10 to 8, and more corners, 5 to 1, while China had 3 shots on target to Malaysia's 2 and 2 saves to 1.

D. Tan was booked in first-half stoppage time, F. Tierney was booked on 53 minutes and again on 90 minutes before his red card, and A. Yang was booked on 90 minutes.