A youthful China overcame a missed first-half penalty to fight back strongly and beat Kuwait 3-1 in a friendly match between the two Asian Cup qualifiers on Thursday.
China striker Gao Lin was guilty of missing the 36th minute spot-kick after his shot was well-saved by Nawaf al-Khaldi diving away to his right.
The ’keeper added further good stops in the first period, which looked to finish goalless, only for Kuwait to snatch the lead in stoppage-time when Khaled Hajiah headed home an outswinging corner.
China improved after the break in Anshan and were level in the 53rd minute when striker Yang Xu turned under pressure in the box and fired a low shot through the legs of al-Khaldi, who should have done better.
The experienced al-Khaldi was again culpable as China took the lead 11 minutes later, when Guangzhou Evergrande midfielder Yu Hanchao fired home after the goalkeeper failed to get distance on his punch.
Defender Ren Hang was then dismissed for the hosts with 15 minutes remaining after picking up his second yellow card, but Alain Perrin’s young side wrapped up the victory in the 90th minute.
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