DOHA: China scored twice in the second half Saturday to beat 10-man Kuwait 2-0 in the Asian Cup group stage. Zhang Linpeng scored in the 57th minute after his powerful shot from 30 meters took a deflection off a Kuwaiti player. China sealed the Group A victory with a 66th-minute free kick by midfielder Deng Zhuoxiang. “I am very happy to win this match because the first match is always very hard,” China coach Gao Hongbao said. “The first 30 minutes Kuwait did very well, but after that our team controlled the match.” Kuwait started off confidently against a young Chinese squad with little experience in international competition. Kuwaiti defender Mesad Nada was sent off for kicking China striker Yang Xu in the 34th. The incident followed a tackle involving the two players on the edge of the pitch. China scored its first goal after taking full advantage of Kuwait's depleted side and breaking a shaky defense with ease. “This match was marked by our player's sending off,” said Goran Tufegdzic, Kuwait's Serbian coach. “Before (that) our team was a better team with good possession of the ball and after that China controlled the match.” Kuwait was the second Gulf team to lose in the tourney. On Friday, Uzbekistan beat Qatar 2-0 in the opening game. In the last Asian Cup, China failed to advance from the group stage. Gao, who has been credited for much of the improvement in Chinese football, said he did not underestimate Group A rival Qatar and Uzbekistan. Newcastle, Sunderland shocked Newcastle was ousted from the FA Cup by fourth-tier Stevenage in Saturday's biggest third-round shock, following Premier League rivals Blackpool, Sunderland and West Bromwich out of the competition at the hands of lowly opposition. Despite Newcastle making five changes from the side that routed West Ham in midweek, it was still a strong side that went down 3-1 at Stevenage. While Stevenage is 15th in League Two, Newcastle is eighth in the Premier League. Sunderland's 2-1 loss to third-tier Notts County allowed Paul Ince to prevail over former Manchester United teammate Steve Bruce, whose Sunderland side was sixth in the topflight. Blackpool went down 2-0 at third-tier Southampton and West Bromwich lost 1-0 at Reading of the second-tier League Championship. Leeds looked set to follow last season's victory over Manchester United by ousting Arsenal before Cesc Fabregas canceled out Robert Snodgrass' spot kick with one of his own in the 90th minute to earn a 1-1 draw. However, Aston Villa, Birmingham, Blackpool, Bolton, Everton, Fulham, West Ham and Wigan all secured places in Sunday's fourth
