It may not have been pretty but Marcello Lippi can breathe a sigh of relief, as China got their Asian Cup campaign off to a good start thanks to a come-from-behind victory over Kyrgyzstan.

China, who had won just once in seven games in the build-up to the tournament, fell behind to Akhlidin Israilov’s fine left-footed strike from outside the box f just before half-time.

The Dragons had looked tentative up to that point and thoughts of a final piece of major silverware for 70-year-old Lippi, who is likely to retire after the tournament, seemed even more fanciful.

However, China got a stroke of luck shortly after the interval through Kyrgyzstan goalkeeper Pavel Matiash, who made an unforgivable blunder by palming what should have been an easy catch from a corner into his own net.

Then, with under 15 minutes to go, Yu Dabao angled in a shot and China held on from there for their fourth straight victory in Asian Cup openers.