Hong Kong’s Festus Baise scores as Guizhou Zhicheng earn Chinese Super League draw with Beijing Guoan
Club captain heads home in first half at Guiyang Olympic Sports Centre but home side are forced to settle for 1-1 draw
.JPG?itok=J8tgfPmW&v=1659948715)
Hong Kong international Festus Baise scored as top-flight newcomers Guizhou Zhicheng recorded a second consecutive draw at the start of their maiden Chinese Super League campaign after sharing a 1-1 stalemate with Beijing Guoan on Saturday.
Guizhou captain Baise, who has been named in Hong Kong’s squad for this month friendly with Jordan and AFC Asian Cup qualifier with Lebanon in Beirut, headed home a 23rd minute free kick from Dutch midfielder Tjaronn Chery at Guiyang Olympic Sports Centre.
But after also sharing a 1-1 draw at home with Liaoning Whowin in last week’s season opener, Guizhou were denied a first-ever Super League win as Turkey international striker Burak Yilmaz struck for the visitors two minutes before half-time.
“We could have created more opportunities, but the players were not relaxed during the opening stage,” said Beijing coach Jose Gonzalez after seeing his side pick up their first point of the campaign after losing last week’s opener 2-1 to Guangzhou Evergrande. “After conceding the goal they started to get back into the game little by little.
O Guizhou Zhicheng abriu o placar contra o Beijing Guoan com esse gol de Festus Baise. pic.twitter.com/cFvKjiS3uz— China BR Futebol (@chinaBRfutebol) March 11, 2017
“Guizhou played really well today and it took us a very long time to adapt to the rhythm of the game.
“We had some serious problems when defending the set pieces and that can’t happen again.”
Also on Saturday, Shanghai Shenhua were held to a 1-1 draw by 2016 League One champions Tianjin Quanjian as Belgium international Axel Witsel struck a 85th minute equaliser for Fabio Cannavaro’s visitors.
Hong Kong coach Kim Pan-gon urges caution over pursuing Chinese Super League career
It could have been worse for Gus Poyet’s Shenhua, who had taken a 75th minute lead through Colombian Giovanni Moreno, as Tianjin’s Brazilian striker Alexandre Pato then missed a penalty with two minutes remaining.
The meeting between Chongqing Lifan and Hebei CFFC on Saturday also ended in a 1-1 draw.
