China stuns Uzbekistan 2-1 at Asian Cup

China's Sun Ke celebrates his goal during their Asian Cup Group B soccer match against Uzbekistan at the Brisbane Stadium in Brisbane January 14, 2015. [Photo/Agencies]

BRISBANE - China scored twice in 13 minutes to come from behind and upset Uzbekistan 2-1 at the Asian Cup on Wednesday to book themselves a spot in the quarter-finals.

China started the tournament as an outsider for the title but after winning their first two Group B matches in dramatic fashion, they are now assured of finishing top of their pool with a game to spare.

Trailing 1-0 at halftime against the group favourites, China drew level after 55 minutes when Wu Xi scored then snatched the lead with a spectacular solo strike from substitute Sun Ke.

Uzbekistan, who took an early lead through an opportunist goal from Odil Ahmedov, could not find a late equaliser and now face Saudi Arabia in their final group game in Melbourne on Sunday to decide the pool runner-up.

As Group B winners, China will play the runner-up in Group A, either Australia or South Korea. The Group B runners-up will play the Group A winners.

The Saudis, beaten 1-0 by China on the weekend, stayed in the hunt earlier in the day with a 4-1 win over North Korea, who were eliminated.

Ahmedov gave Uzbekistan the lead after 22 minutes with a goal against the run of play. The central midfielder took a speculative long-range shot from outside the box that took a wicked deflection off the legs of the Chinese defensive midfielder Wu.