China’s under-23s stumble against Uzbekistan to set up crunch qualification clash with Qatar

China followed up their opening victory over Oman with a narrow loss to Uzbekistan in their second group game at the AFC Under-23 Championship in Changzhou, Jiangsu province.

The hosts fell behind to Khojiakbar Alijonov’s strike in the first half and, despite their second period pressure, they could not find a way past Botirali Ergashev in the visitors’ goal.

China dominated possession but failed to score, a stark contrast to their opening-day win.

The Uzbeks had lost their opening game to Qatar and the win means they are level on points with China ahead of the third and final group games on Monday.