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
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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.
Guangzhou midfielder Huang Bowen, however, unleashed a stunning equaliser, a volleyed screamer from just outside the area, on the half hour mark from captain Zheng Zhi’s cross for a sumptuous riposte from the hosts.
Kashiwa did come close to halving that deficit in the second half through Yusuke Kobayashi and Cristiano and Guangzhou goalkeeper Zeng Cheng had to be alert to push Daisuke Suzuki’s header over the crossbar.
But despite the withdrawal of China full-back and former Chelsea target Zhang Linpeng through injury and the addition of a third striker to the field, Kashiwa were unable to make further inroads into the scoreline as Guangzhou secured a second appearance in the final four of the AFC Champions League.
They will play in the last four against the winners of the tie between Japan’s Gamba Osaka and Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors, of South Korea. They face each other in today’s second leg with the score tied at 0-0 following the first meeting in Jeonju.
