Russia 2018/UAE2019 Qualifiers: China 12-0 Bhutan

The visitors held out until the tenth minute at the Changsha Helong Stadium when Mei Fang, who was part of the Guangzhou Evergrande side that held Al Ahli to a goalless draw in Dubai in the first leg of the 2015 AFC Champions League final, opened the scoring before Yang doubled the advantage just three minutes later with his first goal since hitting a hat-trick in China’s defeat of Bhutan in their Group C opener in Thimphu back in June.

Yu Dabao made it 3-0 just after the quarter-of-the-hour mark with his fifth of the qualifiers following doubles against Bhutan and the Maldives before Yang joined the Beijing Guoan striker on five goals when he successfully converted a 21st minute penalty.

Guangzhou Evergrande winger Yu Hanchao, who came off the bench to replace the injured Ricardo Goulart in the first instalment of the ACL final last Saturday, netted China’s fifth in the 34th minute and after Yang completed his hat-trick three minutes later Yu Dabao scored his second of the match and sixth of the qualifiers in the 39th minute as the home side took a commanding 7-0 lead into the interval.

There was to be no let up in the second half as Yang scored his fourth and China’s eighth six minutes after the restart with substitute Wang Yongpo bagging a brace (66th, 81st), with the Shandong Luneng attacker’s goals coming either side of a second from Yu Hanchao in the 72nd minute.

Zhang Xizhe, who came on at the start of the second half in place of Yu Hai, got his name on the scoresheet when the former VfL Wolfsburg midfielder completed the rout two minutes from time as China moved onto to ten points, three behind Hong Kong who consolidated their second place position in the standings with a narrow 1-0 win over the Maldives in the other Group C fixture on Thursday.

The group winners and four best runners-up (total 12 teams) will advance to the 2019 AFC Asian Cup finals and the final round of qualifying for the 2018 FIFA World Cup.

The next best 24 teams from the preliminary stage of the joint qualifiers will compete in a separate competition for the remaining slots (12 slots or 11 slots + 1 slot for the host) in the 24-team 2019 Asian Cup.

Photo: AFP