Jackson Irvine further established himself as the face of the Socceroos, Nishan Velupillay netted his third goal in just his fourth senior international, and Australia weathered a second-half storm to take another step towards securing automatic qualification for the 2026 World Cup with a 2-0 win over China.
Given that the worst part of it may have come 1,900km away in Saitama, where Saudi Arabia held Japan to a 0-0 draw to stay within touching distance in their qualification group, it was a good evening for still undefeated national team boss Tony Popovic and his side at the Hangzhou Olympic Sports Centre Stadium.
