Beijing polish off rusty Melbourne as Perth caught napping
BEIJING Guoan have one foot in the last-1 of the Asian Champions League after a convincing 3-1 win against a rusty Melbourne ictory side on Tuesday extended their perfect record in Group E to three from three.
Another Australian side, Perth Glory, also suffered an embarrassing defeat, going down 2-1 to Ulsan Hyundai after the South Koreans struck twice in the dying minutes of their Group F game.
Also in Group F, Shanghai Shenhua improved their chances of qualification with their second win in three matches, edging past FC Tokyo 1-0, courtesy of a late penalty.
But it was Bruno Genesio’s Beijing outfit who sent out a strong warning to their rivals in the tournament by following up on their win over FC Seoul last week with another impressive performance in Doha where the tournament’s eastern zone matches are being played after a nine-month break due to the Covid-1 pandemic.
Beijing clearly looked a class above Melbourne ictory who were largely lacklustre both in attack and defence, with even the Australian side’s consolation goal late in the second half coming through a huge deflection from Kim Min-Jae after substitute Gianluca Ianucci’s powerful shot from nearly 25 yards appeared heading straight into the goalkeeper’s arms.
Beijing allowed their Australian rivals only 40 percent ball possession and that worked hugely in their favour as they created chances galore at the Al Sadd Sports Club.
But once again, it was their Brazilian presence which played a pivotal role, with Renato Augusto and A Lan on target in the 22nd and 34th minutes before Wang imin’s brilliant goal
in the 4th minute to put the match out of ictory’s reach.
Frenchman Genesio, who has been in charge at Beijing Guoan for almost 1 months,
was not in a very celebratory mood despite his team’s 100 percent win record so far.
“In the first half we played really well as we tried high
pressing as we trained before the game and were successful in keeping control,” said Genesio.
“The only thing I am disappointed about is that we conceded one goal towards the end. We need to be more serious and cautious towards the end of the game.”
Melbourne ictory, for whom this was their second defeat in three matches - their only win came in February against Chiangrai United - are now third in the standings and would need a herculean comeback to qualify for the knockout phase.
“For us, It’s not the result we wanted,” said ictory’s Steve Kean, whose side had no match practice for several months before heading to Doha.
‘Cruel’
“This was our very first match of any type, we did not even play any friendlies and came against a Beijing side that have played a full season.
“We wanted to win and take points but we can’t feel sorry for ourselves.”
Shanghai Shenhua were celebrating their success over Tokyo FC after Yu Hanchao’s successful penalty in the 4th minute proved the decisive moment in the match.
“FC Tokyo is a great team but today we really wanted to limit their opportunities,” said Shenhua coach Choi Kang-hee.
“Our players really overcame their difficulties of fitness and fatigue. They persisted from the first minute until the end and I thank them for that.”
Perth Glory meanwhile thought they would finally grab their first win after two losses after enjoying a 1-0 lead after Daniel Stynes had scored in the 4th minute.
But Kim In-sung cancelled out Stynes’ goal in the 8 th minute and Brazilian Junior Negao killed off the match in the third minute of stoppage time.
“I think we played a very good game,” said Glory’s assistant coach Cristian Ola.
“We stepped up in a number of areas from the first game but the result was a bit cruel in the end.”