Evergrande into Chinese FA Cup semis
Will take on Guangzhou R& F or Hebei China Fortune
Guangzhou Evergrande survived a Beijing Guoan scare on Tuesday to qualify for the Chinese FA Cup semifinals, beating Guoan 2- 1 in the capital.
The win put Evergrande 4- 2 on aggregate after a 2- 1 win in the first- leg quarterfinal match in Guangzhou.
But Tuesday’s game also came at a cost to Evergrande, as key defenders Zhang Linpeng and Feng Xiaoting suf- fered injuries.
Evergrande’s Brazilian coach Luiz Felipe Scolari said the duo are fine but also called on the national team to take into consideration their fatigue, as they were asked to join a national team training session on Tuesday.
“I think the match should have ended at 3- 3,” Scolari told a post- match news conference. “Both sides had a lot of chances, but we were the luckier side, though we did not have many chances.”
He also noted 23- year- old Wang Shangyuan, who played Tuesday’s match as a side back, stepped up when his elder teammates were unavailable for the matches.
Guoan dominated the first 30 minutes highlighted by Yu Dabao, who scored a goal in the 22nd minute before the five- time Chinese Super League champions pulled themselves up.
Though Guoan keeper Yang Zhi denied Gao Lin’s one- on- one 10 minutes later, Paulinho helped the visitors equalize the score at 1- 1 with a header.
Guoan had enjoyed a 10- day break after heavy rainfall postponed a league match when Evergrande lost to city rivals R& F 2- 1.
But the much- prepared Greens had their hopes dashed just one minute after the start of second half, as Gao’s volley put Evergrande 2- 1 up. Turkish international Burak Yilmaz hit the woodwork for Guoan in the 65th minute.
“We didn’t do well in the beginning of each half,” said Guoan head coach Xie Feng. “Pressuring the opponents provided us several chances but we didn’t turn them to goals.”
Xie replaced Italian Alberto Zaccheroni in May, and has since led a struggling Guoan side to a mini- revival.
“It was our best performance against them [ Evergrande] this season,” Xie said.
“Though we were beaten, the match showed how eager my players are as they fought till the very end.”
Five- time league winners Evergrande previously did not show much interest in the domestic cup title, winning it once in 2012.
They only lost to Beijing at the Workers’ Stadium in 2012, when an already league winners team lost to Guoan 1- 0.
After being eliminated in the group stage of the Asian Champions League, Evergrande switched its season target to a domestic double: winning the league and the Cup. Their opponents in the CFA Cup semifinals will be decided on Wednesday, after a match between Hebei China Fortune and R& F. Evergrande’s cross- town rivals have a threegoal advantage after the first- leg match.
Evergrande are currently the league leaders with 45 points, seven points clear of second- placed Jiangsu Suning, and have one game in hand. Guoan are in tenth with 24 points and three games in hand.