CHENGDU, China, May 25 (Xinhua) -- Goalkeeper Jian Tao's astonishing penalty save gave China U-18 national football team some hope but the New Zealand U-18 team answered with two more goals to win the match 2-0 in the 2019 Panda Cup international youth football tournament here on Saturday.
The New Zealand team gained an upper hand from the very beginning of the game and nearly opened scoring at the 6th minute when New Zealand got a penalty but Garbett Matthew saw his shot saved by China goalkeeper Jian Tao.
Jian Tao's perfect performance didn't last long. When facing shot from Matthew in the 43rd minute, he was only able to parry the ball and Randall Jesse followed-up with a tap in to open the scoring for New Zealand.
Matthew then scored the winner through a penalty again in the 73rd minute. The host team fought hard in the last 20 minutes of the game and created some scoring chances but failed to convert any of them.
Earlier in the day, South Korea scored a hard-won victory of 2-1 over Thailand in the opening match of the tournament.
