Saudi Arabia defied torrential rain and a gallant China PR to claim a crucial 1-0 win which secured their place in the AFC U-19 Championship Indonesia 2018 quarter-finals.

Abdulmohsen Al Qahtani came off the bench to score an 81st minute winner, taking Saudi Arabia to top spot in Group D with two wins from as many matches following their earlier 2-1 win over Malaysia.

China PR are now eliminated from the competition, after falling to consecutive losses in their opening two matches.

The East Asians had early chances to shed the unwanted tag of the only team yet to score in the competition in a relatively bright opening 20 minutes, but Saudi Arabia had maintained the lion's share of possession and it wasn't long until it began to translate into opportunities in the final third.

Naif Al Mas sent a header just wide, and Abdullah Al Hamdan had a goal-bound 26th minute effort deflected over the cross bar by the head of Chinese defender Zhu Chen Jie as the Saudis began to take control of the contest.

Storm clouds had hovered ominously above Patriot Chandrabhaga Stadum before kick-off, and the heavens finally burst open to add an extra element of difficulty for both sides just after the half-hour mark.

To their credit, both sets of players dealt well with the extremely difficult conditions, few more so than Khalid Al Ghannam, who forced Peng Peng into a commendable near post save after his driving run into the penalty area was met with little resistance from the Chinese defence. 

Saudi Arabia's stranglehold on possession continued into the second half, although China PR created several promising openings which were curtailed by their own inability to produce to a functional final pass.

The weather had now well and truly cleared, but the Chinese quarter-final outlook began to look particularly gloomy nine minutes from time, when Al Qahtani struck to give the West Asians what would prove to be a decisive lead. 

After coming on as substitute, Al Qahtani had forced Peng into a save two minutes earlier, but this time his powerful low effort squeezed under the Chinese shot-stopper to find its way into the net, and all but seal his side's progression to the quarter-finals.

Peng recovered to prevent Turki Al Ammar from making it 2-0 four minutes later, but the damage was done for China PR, who will be playing for pride only in their final match against Malaysia.

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