China struggle past eight-man Malaysia into last 16

China reached the last 16 of the Asian Games football tournament on Saturday with a 3-0 win over a Malaysian team who finished with eight men.

China, who will tackle South Korea for a place in the quarter-finals, only broke the deadlock after an hour despite their opponents having lost Mahuli Jasuli and captain Safiq Rahmin to red cards as early as the 25th minute.

Li Jianbin opened the scoring in the 61st minute with Zhao Honglue adding a second four minutes later.

Zhang Linpeng then converted an 83rd minute penalty after Subramaniam Sumindran had become the third Malaysian to be sent off.

“Three Malaysians were sent-off and this made the match easier,” said Zhao Honglue.

“But in the first half we were a bit rushed and focused too much on playing down the wings. After the break we changed our strategy and did better.”

Rahmin was shocked by his red card handed out by Australian referee Ben Williams.

“As captain I was entitled to ask why my teammate had been sent-off, but he flashed me a red card. Then I walked away and he pulled me up again. It was completely uncalled for.”

Despite the defeat, Malaysia still went through as a best third-placed team and will face Iran for a spot in the quarter-finals.

China finished runners-up to Group A winners Japan who saw off Kyrgyzstan 3-0 to finish the first stage with a perfect record of three wins in three matches.

Kyohei Noborizato scored twice for Japan to celebrate his 20th birthday in style with Takamitsu Tomiyama adding a late third.

Japan will tackle India for a quarter-final place.

Iran, the 2002 Asian Games champions, topped Group B with a 1-0 victory over Vietnam which gave them a third win.

Turkmenistan took second spot thanks to a 1-1 draw against Bahrain with their goal scored by Ruslan Mingazov whose father Kamil is team coach.

South Korea joined North Korea in the last 16 with a comfortable 3-0 win over Palestinian territories.

South Korea were two goals to the good inside the first 13 minutes thanks to Yoon Bitgaram and Monaco’s Park Chu-Young.

Park Hee-Seong added a third after 52 minutes with a smart turn and shot after a long punt up field.

North Korea, who had already made sure of their last 16 spot and next tackle Vietnam, topped Group C with three wins in three after seeing off Jordan 3-0.

Kim Yong-Jun was on target after 16 minutes with Choe Myong-Ho adding a 78th-minute. Choe Kum-Chol tucked away a third in the 82nd minute.