The St-Truiden midfielder was instrumental to the success of Go Oiwa’s side at Jassim bin Hamad Stadium alongside goal scorer Kuryu Matsuki after Nishio’s 17th minute expulsion forced the Japanese into a tactical rejig.

Matsuki had started the game in a more advanced role but, with central defender Nishio dismissed for lashing out at China PR’s Jia Feifan, Oiwa replaced Rihito Yamamoto with defender Seiji Kimura and the Japanese took a more conservative approach as a result.

“I think we could have played better, but in the early stages of the first half we had the red card ,” said Fujita, who was named the game’s Most Valuable Player for his controlled performance.

“However we were able to play well and we got confidence. Hopefully we can go on and win the next game.”

“(The red card) made it a difficult situation, but I talked with Matsuki and told him we needed to be patient and we needed to be solid when defending. Sometimes if we had the chance to go forward, we should try to get a second goal. But we needed to be patient.”

The Japanese had impressed in the opening exchanges and took the lead when Matsuki struck in a flash from the edge of the six yard box, volleying home Fuki Yamada’s in-swinging cross from the right.

Nishio’s dismissal upended the pattern of the game, however. Japan goalkeeper Leo Kokubo was forced into action on several occasions either side of the interval while Tao Qianglong hit the crossbar as the Chinese went close to equalising.

The Japanese had impressed in the opening exchanges and took the lead when Matsuki struck in a flash from the edge of the six yard box, volleying home Fuki Yamada’s in-swinging cross from the right.

Nishio’s dismissal upended the pattern of the game, however. Japan goalkeeper Leo Kokubo was forced into action on several occasions either side of the interval while Tao Qianglong hit the crossbar as the Chinese went close to equalising.

China PR coach Cheng Yaodong was left to rue his side’s failure to make the most of their one-man advantage with his attack unable to find a way past Japan’s Portugal-based goalkeeper Kokubo.

“We knew the Japan team was much stronger than us,” said Cheng. “We normally rely on counterattacks, but in the first half we tried to take advantage of them missing one of their players.

“The turning point was when one of their players was sent off. After that we moved our formation forward a bit and then we did create some opportunities. But it was a pity we didn’t score. Overall I think this game was very intense and exciting and I’m generally satisfied with the players.”