Last Sunday’s win is one that will live long in the memories of every Beijing Guoan fan no matter what happens this weekend. Sunday will be an amazing environment at Worker’s Stadium as a huge crowd comes out to say goodbye to their heroes for another season and, if things go their way, celebrate the club’s second league title.
Where amazing happens
Shao Jiayi’s late goal against Evergrande is one of those moments that I’m unlikely to forget anytime soon (and the same can be said for most Guoan fans). The moment the ball went into the back of the net everyone sort of looked at each other for a second or two, not believing what they just saw was real. Indeed it was, though, and Beijing came close to doubling the tally a few minutes later. It was a result I never would never have dreamed of and it has Guoan fans flying high as the club goes into the season’s final weekend.
Could it happen again?
The second half of the season has pretty much been a dream for Guoan fans as the club just doesn’t stop winning. Their likely points total of 69 would be enough to win the league pretty much every other year and they’d reach that total after setting a record nine game win streak. The Jiangsu, Tianin, and Hangzhou wins were all amazing come from behind victories that keep building up to this point, the title is oh so close, but…
Hello Henan, help us Shandong
Up above, I’ve already given Sunday’s match to Guoan, but it’s not so easy. Henan have plenty to play for, without a win there’s the distinct possibility that they may be dropping right back down to League One. Henan defeated Guoan earlier in the season at Hanghai, but the Beijingers have often struggled there. At Gongti it’s a different story, where Guoan has never lost to Henan (though there are a number of draws down the years). It would be good to see Beijing remove some of the tension by jumping out to an early lead like they did in 2009 against Hangzhou.
That said, a Guoan win only completes one side of the equation, for the other, they need Shandong to do something they’ve never done before, defeat Evergrande in Jinan. There are plenty of reasons to doubt that will happen, but there was also plenty of reasons to doubt the capital side would get things down to just three points.
I believe!
