Son Heung-min scored twice and set up the third as South Korea handed China a 3-0 defeat in Shenzhen on Tuesday to complete back-to-back wins at the start of their challenge for a place at the 2026 World Cup finals.
Son put the Koreans in front in the Group C clash in the second phase of Asia's preliminaries with an 11th minute penalty after Hwang Hee-chan had been fouled in the area.
He added the second in the final minute of the first half with a header for Jurgen Klinsmann's side.
The Tottenham Hotspur forward turned provider three minutes from time when he drifted in a free kick from the right that Jung Seung-hyun headed past Yan to put the seal on the victory.
In the opening set China had beaten Thailand who bounced back from that loss to beat Singapore 3-1.
South Korea are one of seven countries in Asian qualifying, including Australia who beat Palestine in Kuwait thanks to Harry Souttar's goal, with two wins from two. The others are Iraq, Japan, Qatar, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and Malaysia.
Mohanad Ali scored six minutes into injury time to earn Iraq a 1-0 win over hosts Vietnam in Group F as Jesus Casas' side moved onto six points.
Vietnam remain in second in the group standings after the Philippines and Indonesia shared a 1-1 draw in Manila.
Qatar, the host of last year's World Cup, followed their 8-1 defeat of Afghanistan by beating India 3-0 in Group A.
Japan have opened with a brace of 5-0 wins, beating Syria by that score in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, after putting a handful past Myanmar.
Also in Group B Jong Il Gwan scored a hat-trick as North Korea picked up their first win of the campaign with a 6-1 thrashing of Myanmar in Yangon having started their quest for a place at the finals last Thursday with a draw against Syria.
Malaysia top Group D after winning in Taiwan 1-0, Saudi Arabia won 2-0 in Jordan, and the UAE also doubled up with a 2-0 win in Bahrain.
with AP
Australian Associated Press
