Yu Dabao's second-half goal and a bizarre own goal earned China a 2-1 victory against Kyrgyzstan in the 2019 AFC Asian Cup on Monday.
China, who won the opening game in each of the last three Asian Cup, was expected to claim an easy win from Kyrgyzstan, the one of three teams to make their Asian Cup debut.
However, Kyrgyzstan were by far the better side in the first half and took the lead after 42 minutes through Akhlidin Israilov's fantastic volley assisted by Mirlan Murzaev with a headed pass. Kyrgyzstan had a golden opportunity to extend the lead, but Vitalij Lux's shot from the centre of the box went wide in the 44th minute.
China came back to the game under an unexpected circumstances five minutes after the break, when Kyrgyzstan goalkeeper Pavel Matiash committed a serious howler, punching the ball into his own net in a corner defence.
"It was not only the goalkeeper's mistake, we made a lot of mistakes after 1-0. We felt frustrated but we will learn lessons from this defeat," Kyrgyzstan head coach Aleksandr Krestinin said.
Matiash's nightmare was not finished as Yu Dabao dribbled past him and then netted the winner with a left-footer in the 78th minute.
"It was a tough match for us but we executed the coach's tactics after conceding the goal, and this victory will relieve our pressure and help us prepare for the next match," said Yu.
Marcello Lippi, who won the World Cup with Italy in 2006, admitted China had an awful first half but insisted that his team deserved the win.
"The goalkeeper's error gave our first goal, it's very lucky. But after that we created many chances, I am proud of what we showed in the second half," said the 70-year-old.
China, the runners-up in 1984 and 2004, will next go up against the Philippines on Friday in Abu Dhabi.
