Shanghai East Asia 0-3 Beijing Guoan
CSL round 16
Shao 9′, Guerron 58′, Wang Hao 80′
Attendance: 11,952
After a long string of weak road performances, it was back to winning ways for Beijing Guoan on the road as the 10 men side was able to defeat Shanghai East Asia 3-0 last night.
Guoan dominated possession and chances from the start. Shao Jiayi got the visitors off to a good start with a long shot that somehow slipped under the East Asia keeper. Shao’s shot had some dip on it, but it was down to keeper error more than anything. Guoan was up by one and it was only 10 minutes into the match.
It was fortunate the Beijingers had that goal because within minutes they went a man down when Lang Zheng took down xxxx and was adjudged to be the last defender. The big Guoan defender saw straight red and Guoan looked ready to sit back and defend their way to a 1-0 victory.
Despite half a season in the top flight, East Asia’s inexperience shined through and the home side struggled to create chances. Those that Shanghai did produce were easily dealt with by Yang Zhi, who gave a stellar performance in net.
Whatever hopes the Shanghai side had of earning points were undone just before the hour mark when a defender slipped and Zhang Xizhe played an easy ball across the goal mouth for a Joffre Guerron tap in. Guoan added one more in the final minutes as Guerron charged forward on the counter attack after a Shanghai corner kick. He put substitute Wang Hao through in space and the youngster finished beautifully.
The three points offer much needed relief for Guoan, who are now only two points shy of the final Asian Champions League spot.
by bcheng
Category: Beijing Guoan, Chinese Super League, Shanghai SIPG, Top Stories
Tags: Joffre Guerron, Shao Jiayi, Zhang Xizhe
This was my first East Asia/SIPG/上港 (or whatever they’re officially called!), after a few years of trying and failing to take Shenhua to heart, and despite the result I was impressed with the overall experience. I’ll definitely be back.
The home fans made an incredible amount of din despite the cavernous environs and painful scoreline, and although clearly hindered by their fragility and inexperience, East Asia look like they have a lot of potential – if they can augment their tidy passing game with a bit more robustness and ruthlessness, I can see them dealing out a few more Shenxin-esque pastings to sides less capable than Guoan.
A few thoughts:
– The sending off probably benefited Guoan more than SEA; after that it was all too easy for Guoan to sit back and pounce on the defensive slips (literally) made by East Asia. I wonder how many points East Asia will end up losing this season due to a lack of the intelligence and incision required up front to unpick well-oiled defences.
– While losing 3-0 at home to a side reduced to 10 men sounds like a shite result, East Asia ought to feel disappointed rather than despondent. Despite Guoan’s resilience, East Asia carved out chances and probably should have scored at least once. All three goals conceded were due to a sharp Guoan side capitalising on pretty much the only three major individual errors SEA committed, in what was otherwise quite a tidy display. If they can cut out the sloppiness at both ends of the park, East Asia will become a much more formidable prospect.
– In contrast to the feeling I get with Shenhua, SEA feel like a side on the up (regardless of the scoreline!). To a man, all the fans I spoke to were extremely positive about the club and its ethos, and the atmosphere was raucous and supportive throughout. It speaks volumes that attendances at Shanghai Stadium are already starting to exceed those at Hongkou…