Reigning champions smash Palestine 4-0 in their Asian Cup opener

Japan made a fantastic start for their title defending journey with a landslide 4-0 victory over Palestine in the Group D opener at AFC Asian Cup here on Monday.

In the first ever competitive meeting between these two nations, the four-time Asian Cup winners had the upper hand for the whole time and dominated the game.

From the very first minute, Japan caused plenty of troubles for Palestine' s defenders through frequent passes and quick moves, but the tournament newcomers could not find any effective ways to cope with that.

Under the huge pressure, Palestine conceded three goals in the first half including a penalty.

In the 8th minute, Japan' s midfielder Yasuhito Endo fired a powerful volley into the lower corner from out of the box. 17 minutes later, his teammate Shinji Okazaki enlarged the advantage by a brilliant header. In the 44th minute, Japan earned a penalty and Keisuke Honda did not pull his punches.

After break, Maya Yoshida' s header rubbed salt into Palestinians' wounds. With the second yellow card given to the Palestinian defender Ahmed Mahajna, the victory was pocketed by Japan in safe and secure.

Overall, Japanese had 23 shots on targets, while Palestinians had only six. The ball possession was 64.4% to 35.6%.

Japan have won a record four AFC Asian Cup titles, with each of those coming in the last six editions. In contrast this is Palestine' s debut appearance at the tournament.

Palestine qualified for the AFC Asian Cup Australia 2015 by winning the 2014 AFC Challenge Cup - they kept a clean sheet in all five of their matches during this tournament. Endi