Goulart rescues Evergrande
Hong Kong, March 7: Fabio Cannavaro’s Guangzhou Evergrande roared back from two goals down on Tuesday with four second- half goals from Ricardo Goulart completing a sensational 5- 3 AFC Champions League victory over Jeju United.
On a night when it rained goals, Cannavaro’s former club Tianjin Quanjian were thumped 63 at 2016 winners Jeonbuk Motors, whose giant striker Kim Shin- wook bagged his first Champions League hat- trick.
Evergrande, the club who have declared they want to field an allChinese side by 2020, had to thank their two prolific Brazilian forwards for the victory over their Korean visitors.
The Chinese champions found themselves 0- 2 down after 29 minutes at the Tianhe Stadium to goals from Jin Seong- uk and Magno Cruz.
But Goulart’s goal spree thrilled the raucous home crowd after fellow Brazilian Alan’s strike deep into first- half stoppage time had given Guangzhou a lifeline.
The 2006 World Cup- winning Italian captain Cannavaro had endured a stuttering start at the southern Chinese club since taking over from Luiz Felipe Scolari, who led Evergrande to a seventh successive Chinese Super League ( CSL) title last year.
Evergrande drew both their previous Group ‘ G’ matches and lost their CSL opener 4- 5 to derby rivals Guangzhou R& F on Friday.
But they now lead Group ‘ G’ by a point from Thailand’s Buriram United, who enjoyed a 2- 0 home win over Japan’s Cerezo Osaka courtesy of goals from Andres Tunez and Edgar Silva.