Guoan’s unbeaten streak was extended to 13 after a good win last night at Worker’s Stadium. Despite injuries and suspensions, the club continues to push forward and find a way to win.
Last night there was some great early teamwork between Joel Griffiths and Walter Martinez, leading to an excellent scoring chance in the opening minutes. Unfortunately, Martinez had to be substituted out in the 17th minute when he appeared to injure an ankle when attempting to chase down a wayward cross. His injury meant that recent signing Keita would make his first appearance for the Men in Green and he proved his worth early, making an immediate impact on the match going in alone on the keeper and almost scoring on a great opportunity.
Just before the end of the half, he won a free kick and Xu Liang stepped up to take it. Xu demonstrated why he’s called “China’s Beckham”, beautifully bending his free kick over the wall and into the back of the net to send Gongti into delirium. For Jiangsu, who were outplayed but managed to keep the score level up until that point, it was a killer blow.
China's Beckham in action
In the second half, Jiangsu looked deflated from the late goal, while Guoan stayed strong in the attack. Piao Cheng, back from illness, who has been playing great all year once again had an excellent performance, controlling the ball and, along with Xu, orchestrating the offense. Guoan’s second goal started on a pass from Piao to Xu, who made an excellent cross to a wide open Zhou Ting on the right side of the box, Zhou one touched it to Griffiths who was shouldered to the ground by Jiangsu’s big central defender. A penalty was awarded, Xu stepped up, put it in, and doubled the tally for the home side. The visitor’s pulled one back when their new signing Alexander Jevtic headed in a cross, making for some tense final moments, but it wasn’t to be for Jiangsu.
Yet with Guangzhou continuing their winning ways, scoring 2 goals in the final 10 minutes, Guoan still remains 7 points off the pace. They’ll be tested this week when they travel to Hangzhou Yiwu, before a big clash at the end of the month when Guangzhou comes to town.
by bcheng
That was a beautiful free kick: feichang piaoliang!
Bend it like Beckham? More like Tommy Banana Johnson!
Great work!
GUOAN is the champion！！！
I thought that PK could have been a non-call. Beijing did have some great opportunities that they couldn’t convert, so maybe Jiangsu was lucky to only be down 1-0 one prior to the PK. Dănălache’s header that went off the cross bar was blown opportunity for Jiangsu, but I was glad it didn’t go in because the play was called offsides, which the replay showed he clearly wasn’t. Beijing’s a solid team, hopefully they can keep up with Guangzhou as the season progresses. Having one team run away with the league is very anticlimactic.
I also loved the reaction of the Beijing’s assistant coach after the free kick goal. That’s the definition of stoic.
This is a mediocore game for Guo’an, but it is gonna be a long season, winning while you are low is a sign of matured team, isn’t it?