The Lions twice came from behind in the first half with goals by Aleksandar Duric and Mustafic Fahrudin cancelling out strikes by Timur Kapadze and Victor Karpenko, but Server Djeparov bagged a brace and Vitaly Denisov added another to put the visitors 5-2 up at half-time.

Substitute Aziz Ibragimov and skipper Maksim Shatskikh struck for the Uzbeks after the interval while John Wilkinson bagged a consolation goal for the hosts.

Kapadze opened the scoring in the 10th minute after latching on to a pass by Denisov but the hosts took only six minutes to respond.

Shi Jiayi’s corner from the left was cleared only as far as Daniel Bennett whose 40-metre shot rebounded off the right post. Goalkeeper Ignatiy Nesterov failed to secure the loose ball and Duric quickly tucked in the rebound.

A lapse in concentration by Bennett in the 21st minute allowed Karpenko time and space to put Uzbekistan back in front but Singapore drew level again ten minutes later after Khairul Amri’s run into the box drew a desperate tackle from Islom Inomov, resulting in a penalty that was converted by Fahrudin.

The match was highly competitive until that point but the Uzbeks pulled away in the closing minutes of the half.

In the 34th minute, Mohamed Noh Rahman’s desperate lunge blocked Shatskikh’s shot on the line but Djeparov was on hand to tuck in the loose ball.

A neat sequence of passes in the 42nd minute resulted in a fourth goal as Kapadze’s low cross from the right to Odil Ahmedov was laid on to an unmarked Denisov to fire home.

Uzbekistan added another a minute before the break as Djeparov’s in-swinging corner from the right embarrassed goalkeeper Lionel Lewis, flying straight into the Singapore net.

It was more of the same after the break despite Singapore’s attempts to get back into the match.

Shatskikh blasted a shot high and wide after being put through by Ibragimov in the 54th minute but Ibragimov did not waste his own opportunity eight minutes later when he climbed above the Singapore defence to nod in Uzbekistan’s sixth goal.

Wilkinson lifted the home side’s flagging spirits with Singapore’s third of the night when he pounced on a rebound in the 73rd minute but Shatskikh found space and time to complete the rout two minutes from time.