Korean women fall to China at East Asian Cup football

South Korea fell to China 2-1 in the women's match at the East Asian Cup football tournament here on Wednesday.

At Hwaseong Stadium here in Gyeonggi Province, south of Seoul, substitute Li Ying scored the go-ahead goal for China midway through the second half to give her team its first win at the regional tournament.

China now has a win and a loss after two matches. It lost to Japan 2-1 on Saturday. South Korea is now saddled with two losses, having lost to North Korea 2-1 on Sunday.

Wang Lisi put China on board in the opening minute, taking advantage of a poor clearing attempt by defender Cho So-hyun. After Cho fanned on Wang Lingling's harmless cross from left wing, Wang Lisi charged in to roll the ball past Kim Jung-mi in the South Korean net.

Kim Na-rae evened the score for South Korea eight minutes later with a booming long-range strike in the ninth minute. The diving Chinese goalkeeper Wang Fei only got a piece of the powerful shot.

South Korea maintained control for the rest of the first half, with Kim Na-rae testing Wang Fei again with another hard shot in the 21st. Just before the break, Cha Yun-hee's volley bounced wide of the net.

Four minutes into the second half, Kim Soo-yun let go of a shot from just outside the box but the ball traveled over the bar.

China then struck with the decisive goal in the 67th. Kim Jung-mi made a tough save on Wang Lisi's shot from near the penalty spot, but the long rebound went right at Li Ying, who calmly put the ball into the gaping net.

South Korea made frantic efforts to tie the score, but Ji So-yun put her header over the bar in the 80th, and Jeoun Eun-ha's hard shot went right at Wang Fei in the Chinese net. (Yonhap News)