China vs India: The hosts handed India a heavy 5-1 defeat at the Hangzhou Asian Games 2023

Despite showing good signs in the first half, the Indian Men's Football Team got slaughtered to half by the hosts in the second half and the match ended as a heavy defeat for the visitors. China scored three late goals to make the scoresheet even worse for India. It was 1-1 at the end of the second half, but the Dragons changed the whole dynamic and showed their strengths at the right time to grab the important three points from the Campaign opener. India couldn't get the time to prepare themselves for the Asian Games 2023 as they reached the hosting country not much ago. The tiredness was clearly visible among the players during the later stages of the second half and it cost them dearly.

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Asian Games 2023: China vs India Match Report

First Half:

Sunil Chhetri and Sandesh Jhingan, both senior national team regulars made it to the starting line-up. China started on the offensive right from kick-off and found the breakthrough in the 17th minute from the set-piece. The corner was not cleared by India. The header at the far post fell to Gao in the six-yard area who guided it past Gurmeet to give China the lead.

China won a penalty kick in the 24th minute. Zhu Chenjie, the captain stepped up to take the penalty. He went for the far left corner but Gurmeet did well to reach it and push it away from danger. Then, India went on to make a comeback in the later stages of the first half. Rahul KP scored for India. A brilliant solo run along the right touchline and he rifled a shot in at the near post past the Chinese keeper. Rahul Kp's goal kept India in the game and it was a stunning comeback after being 1-0 down against an opponent like China.

Second Half:

China went on a riot in the second half. China took the lead in the 51st minute. Dai Weijun found the bottom left corner, past a diving Gurmeet. India awarded too much space to the Chinese midfielder and it went in favour of the China Football team.

China added its third in the 72nd minute. A long shot from Wang Haijian was parried to the right by Gurmeet but Tao was in the right place to turn it in to make it three for the hosts. China scored again in the 75th minute. Jhingan lost the ball near the box and Tao turned Fang Hao's brilliant cross in.

China extended their lead in the last minute of the game and finished it by putting the cherry on top. They gained all the three points they needed from their first match. Now, India would like to make a comeback after this heavy loss.

Asian Games 2023: China vs India - Lineups

Playing XIs:

• India: Gurmeet Singh, Sandesh Jhingan, Lalchungnunga, Sumit Rathi, Abdul Rabeeh, Ayush Chhetri, Amarjit Singh, Rahul KP, Bryce Miranda, Sunil Chhetri (C), Rahim Ali.
• China: Jiaqi Han, Yang Liu, Shenglong Jiang, Chenjie Zhu, Zhenao Wang, Haoyang Xu, Haijian Wang, Tianyi Gao, Qianglong Tao, Weijun Dai, Long Tean