AUBAGNE, France, May 26 (Xinhua) -- Despite Chinese men's soccer team's lead in the first half, England caught up and surpassed China in the opening match of Toulon Tournament 2018.

The under-21s tournament on Saturday saw defending champions England almost take the lead three minutes into the match, when an English header went into the Chinese goal. But the referee ruled it out for offside.

The English were nearly always in the attack, but struggled with efficiency as they wasted numerous chances.

It was the Chinese who claimed the first goal in the 20th minute, when Yan Dinghao, a Porto B midfielder, scored with a stunning header and handed China the lead.

England later had another ball into the Chinese goal, but was again ruled out for offside. Despite constantly on the defensive, the Chinese maintained their 1-0 lead to halftime.

But the second half of the game was completely dominated by England, when the Chinese appeared out of steam to organize meaningful offenses.

England continued to prod and Dael Fry found an equaliser around the 57th minute. Things got worse for China when the team were reduced to ten, after captain Sun Weizhe was shown a straight red card.

Before the final whistle, England converted their numerical advantage into an easy goal, nailing the match 2-1.

Chinese head coach Sun Jihai said in an interview that despite opportunities created by his side, the match clearly showed that the English are much stronger.

He said the Chinese team do not have a specific target for this year's Toulon Tournament, but wish to accumulate experience and improve themselves through the matches, noting that the team members haven't had much time in training together.

The 2018 Toulon Tournament, the 46th edition of its kind, is held in the region of Provence, southern France, from 26 May to 9 June.

Twelve teams were drawn into three groups of four. The group winners and the best second-placed team will qualify for the semifinals.