Guangzhou Evergrande reach AFC Champions League semi-finals
Top China team draw 1-1 with Japan's Kashiwa Reysol for a 4-2 aggregate victory
The seemingly irresistible Guangzhou Evergrande train keeps on rolling down the tracks towards more silverware as Luiz Felipe Scolari’s men secured safe passage into the semi-finals of the AFC Champions League after a gritty 1-1 draw with Kashiwa Reysol yesterday
Guangzhou, who on Saturday’s beat Shanghai SIPG 3-0 to regain the lead in the Chinese Super League, earned a 4-2 aggregate victory as they seek a repeat of their 2013 Champions League triumph.
When the two sides had met in the semi-finals of the 2013 edition, Guangzhou simply steamrollered the J.League team, firing four goals past Kashiwa in away and home legs en route to an 8-1 aggregate victory.
The meeting at Tianhe Stadium this time, though, was no walk in the park despite the 3-1 advantage Scolari’s side enjoyed from the first leg.
Kashiwa’s Brazilian forward Cristiano buried a header after 13 minutes to set nerves racing, but that still meant Kashiwa needed to score twice more to make up the deficit.