Goals from Nathan Paull, Nathaniel Blair and Matthew Grimaldi gave the Australians a three-goal lead by half time while Jing Reec, Paull and Aydan Hammond scored after the interval to take their team onto six points following an opening 14-0 victory over Northern Mariana Islands.

The Australians went in front in the 24th minute when Paull struck and three minutes later they doubled the advantage through Blair’s penalty. With eight minutes remaining in the half, the Australians added a third through Grimaldi.

Midway through the second half Australia hit their fourth, their pressure on the Timor-Leste defence paying off as the Olyroos won the ball deep inside their opponents’ half to eventually allow Reec to slide his shot home.

Australia’s fifth came in the final minute when Paull headed in from close range while, three minutes into injury time, Hammond rose unmarked to nod in and confirm a comfortable victory for his side.

China PR dominated the opening half, forcing Northern Mariana Islands to sit deep and protect their goal as Peng Xiao had a couple of headed attempts while Xiang Yuwang skewed his shot wide before goalkeeper Merrick Toves pulled off a great stop to deny Zhu Pengyu.

It was a close moment in the 42nd minute when Toves missed a cross and Baihelamu Abduduwaili was able to direct a header towards goal but it was eventually cleared off the goal line.

Northern Mariana Islands’ resistance was finally broken in the fifth minute of first half added time when Kuai Jiwen worked his way to the edge of the box and fired a low shot which Toves pushed into the path of Abduduwaili who made no mistake with the rebound.

A pair of headers early in the second half increased China PR’s lead to 3-0 with Lin Xinxiang nodding home a minute into the restart of play before Zhu headed in another in the 48th minute.

China PR rammed home their advantage with a flurry of goals late on through Wang Yudong (68th, 90th), Xiang (70th), Kuai (74th), Abduduwaili (75th, 84th) and Zhu (87th) to seal the emphatic win.