China got a pair of second-half goals and won 2-0 at Oman on Friday to open a two-point lead in its Asian World Cup qualifying group.

At Muscat, Hani al-Dhabet missed a penalty kick for the home team in the 42nd minute when his shot his the crossbar. Qi Hong scored in the 70th and Fan Zhiyi converted a penalty kick in the 84th.

At Abu Dhabi, visiting Qatar beat the United Emirates 2-0 on goals by Mostafa Fazli in the 64th and Ali al-Obaidy in the 70th minute.

China (2-0) leads Group B with six points, two ahead of Qatar (1-1-1), three ahead of the UAE (1-2) and Uzbekistan (1-1) and five in front of Oman (0-1-1).

The group winner qualifies for next year's tournament in Japan and South Korea, and the second-place team advances to playoffs.

In Group A, Saudi Arabia beat Iraq 1-0 on Obaid al-Dosari's goal in the 45th minute in a game at Manama, Bahrain.

Bahrain (1-0-1) and Saudi Arabia (1-1-1) each have four points. and Iran (1-0) and Iraq (1-2) have three apiece. Iran is at Thailand (0-1) on Saturday.