Costly defeat for Guoan in their knockout quest
Bunyodkor condemn mainland capital side to home defeat in Asian Champions League
Beijing Guoan slipped off the pace in the quest for a place in the knockout phase of the AFC Champions League last night as Aleksandar Stanojevic's side slipped to a 1-0 defeat to Uzbekistan's Bunyodkor at Workers' Stadium.
Defeat leaves the Chinese Super League side two points adrift of the Uzbeks in group G and a further point behind second placed Pohang Steelers - who drew with J.League Sanfrecce Hiroshima - with two games remaining.
Only the top two teams progress to the last 16 and Fozil Musaev's goal 13 minutes before the end of the first half was enough to secure all three points for Bunyodkor and mark them out as favourites to advance.
"Losing at home, especially when the start was not that bad, is difficult to accept," said Beijing's Serbian coach, who saw his side lose for the first time since taking charge at the start of the season. "But as I said, this is football.
Losing at home, especially when the start was not that bad, is difficult to accept. But as I said, this is football
"You will always have obstacles when you are on an upward trend. Today this is exactly the case.