Let’s roll the clock back to 2013, when Guangzhou Evergrande lost by one goal to Japan’s Urawa Reds in the AFC Champions League but were unstoppable thereafter – eventually winning the championship.
On April 5, 2016, Evergrande, coached by Brazilian Luiz Felipe Scolari, was again defeated by the Red’s in the fourth round of this year’s championship by a score of 1-0 – only this time the two-time AFC Champions League winner was in a pickle instead of on fire.
Having competed with the Pohang Steelers, Sydney FC and Urawa Reds, the Evergrande sit at the bottom of their group, winning zero matches in the first three rounds. Tuesday night’s loss left the Evergrande little chance to march into the knockout stage.
The first half of the match saw no points for either team, but that changed seven minutes into the second half – when a header from Yuki Muto blasted by Evergrande goalkeeper Zeng Cheng. The goal would be the only goal of the match. Meanwhile, Sydney beat the Pohang Steelers on home turf and now need only one point, in their remaining two group stage games, to enter the next round.
The defending champion’s performance was less than satisfactory; its defenders made numerous blunders and attackers wasted opportune chances to score.
Evergrande’s next game will be in Pohang on April 19 at 6.30pm, and, although they have tiny chance to qualify for the knockout stage, we believe their fans just want to see them play a decent game.
[Image via ifeng.com]
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