Under other circumstances, the main cause for celebration would have been that China scored their first goal in four months and ended a three-game winless run with a victory over a plucky Syria who extinguished their World Cup hopes in the Asian qualifiers back in June last summer.

As it was, in a game that grew so lopsided the most important element could be the sort of vim and vigor throughout the night that might give Marcello Lippi's side a new balance and solidity in the build-up to the Asian Cup in January.

Presented with the opportunity to bounce back from a confidence-shattering draw with India, China floored Syria. They flew at the visitors from the first whistle, ending a 305-minute goal drought when Gao Lin's goal sparked wild celebrations as the Chinese supporters gorged on this feast of fluid footwork and attack prowess.

The only blemish on this morale-boosting night from China's point of view was a potentially serious injury to Yu Hai, who tumbled to the ground abruptly with a knee problem following a collision midway through the first half.

Lippi will now hope that their left back has avoided serious damage to his left knee, with a cruciate ligament likely to rule the Shanghai SIPG player out for the rest of the season and even the upcoming Asian Cup.

Fortunately Syria were obliging opponents and the contribution of Fan Xiaodong, who replaced Yu, is beyond reproach, and it was alarming just how easily China were able to pry them open on the counter-attack.

Lippi asked his players to press high at the outset and the tactic almost yielded good results. Chi Zhongguo read a weak pass from Syria and he stepped in to win the ball before threading an inch-perfect pass to Wu Lei.

But the SIPG striker, who is the Chinese Super League's top scorer with 23 goals, telegraphed his intentions and goalkeeper Ibrahim Almeh foiled him with an excellent save. A couple of minutes later the visitors had another lucky escape when Yu Hai's pinpoint cross was headed wide by Wu.

It was clear that China would not be kept at bay for long, and the breakthrough finally arrived in the 20th minute. Gao Lin seized on a loose ball following a Syria mistake in the center-circle and powered towards the goal. His close control on the run was excellent, two touches creating the angle for the shot, and he guided it low and left-footed past Almeh.

For the 32-year-old it was his first international goal from open play in 1,570 days. He had not scored for China since a friendly against Mali in June 2014 but his performance on the night was a fine riposte to his critics.

The goal also took the Guangzhou Evergrande veteran's international tally to 21 in 102 games, second only to Yang Xu among active Chinese players.

Going behind ought to have forced Syria to play with a little more adventure, but they looked second best for the rest of the first half. Wu struck the crossbar late on, springing the offside trap to meet Liu Yiming's pass, and had used his pace to torment the Syria defense.

In fairness, Syria almost managed an instant reply on the stroke of the interval. Al-Maowas was on target with a shot inside the box after beating Feng Xiaoting to the ball, and Syria would have been level but for Zeng Cheng leaping to his right to make a last-gasp save.

The second half began in the same way as the first, with Wu twice denied by Almeh when gloriously placed while Gao missed a penalty after Wu was fouled in the area by al-Medani.

However, Syria's respite was brief. Yu Hanchao got to the byline and his cross hit the arm of al-Masri. The referee had no hesitation, pointing to the spot once again before Wu picked up the ball and coolly converted the penalty.

With Wu Xi forced to withdraw with a hand injury, Lippi brought in his support cast, including 22-year-old Zhang Xiuwei for his China debut. But despite a spell of spirited pressure and several decent chances, Syria could not complete their recovery.

In their last four meetings in a competitive tournament Syria have never before finished on the losing side; this time they surrendered quietly.

Despite the need to stay calm, there was plenty of encouragement for Lippi. "I congratulated all my players after the game because all of them showed unbelievable form and desire to win," said the former Italy coach. "That was obviously our best game in recent periods."

Yet while Lippi marveled at his players' nearly impeccable display after earning a first victory in four months, it would be unwise for China to get carried away.

"We need to keep up this momentum and hopefully the team will play even better in the next two friendlies in November," he added.

"We're still working to improve our passing combinations but there were a lot of positive signs."