International friendly: China PR 2 United Arab Emirates 1

6 ottobre 2011 15:40

China have produced a strong display to record a 2-1 win over the United Arab Emirates in a friendly on Thursday.

First-half goals from Sun Xiang and Gao Lin put the hosts ahead early at the Shenzhen City Stadium, and they held on despite a late UAE surge.

Eisa Al Marzouqi pulled a goal back for the visitors with five minutes to play, but they failed to find an equaliser.

Defender Sun gave China a dream start, blasting in a 20-yard free-kick to open the scoring in the fifth minute.

His Guangzhou Evergrande team-mate Gao doubled their advantage on 16 minutes, finding the bottom corner with a diving header.

With five minutes remaining, Al Marzouqi glanced in a header at the near post after a corner for the UAE, but they had left it too late to snatch a draw.

China meet Iraq in World Cup qualifying on Tuesday, while the UAE travel to South Korea.