Highlights and stats of the match here
It was a day to forget for Cahill, whose team, Shanghai Shenhua, was losing 3-0 the moment he clattered into Lin, while attempting to make a tackle on the hour mark.
The incident left the Australian clutching his nose as commentators saw the funny side.
The Socceroos star, who netted his debut goal for the Chinese Super League (CSL) club five days earlier, confirmed the severity of the injury on his Twitter page, but assured his fans the loss was of more concern to him than the head clash.
The result leaves Cahill's tam fifth in the CSL with four wins from eight matches.