Frontale win
HONG KONG, April 25, (AFP): Luiz Felipe Scolari’s Guangzhou Evergrande crushed Hong Kong’s Eastern 6-0 on Tuesday as they ruthlessly ousted the debutants and their trailblazing female coach from the AFC Champions League.
Paulinho and Alan both grabbed doubles to bury Eastern, whose coach Chan Yuen-ting, nicknamed ‘Beef Ball’, had become the first woman worldwide to lead a professional men’s team into continental competition.
Chan’s Eastern, whose Champions League introduction was a 7-0 hammering away to Evergrande in February, lie bottom of Group G with one point from five games and no chance of reaching the last 16.
Evergrande, the two-time Asian champions and winners of the last six Chinese Super League titles, stay second but they will have to beat Suwon Samsung Bluewings in their last game to guarantee progression.
Elsewhere, group leaders Suwon fell 1-0 to Kawasaki Frontale as the Japanese side, who play Eastern in their final group game on May 9, kept up the pressure on Scolari’s team.
In a hostile atmosphere at Hong Saudi Al-Hilal FC’s midfielder Salman Al-Faraj (top) jumps over Iranian Persepolis FC’s Kamal Kamyabinia (bottom), as they vie for the ball during their AFC Champions League qualifying football match at the Sultan Qaboos Sports Complex in Muscat on April
24. (AFP)
Kong’s Mongkok Stadium, ex-Tottenham Hotspur midfielder Paulinho nodded Evergrande in front after eight minutes before Josh Mitchell put Zhang Linpeng’s cross into his own net approaching halftime.
Brazilian forward Alan poached two goals in 21 minutes in the second half before Paulinho got his second from close range and Yu Hanchao’s free kick trickled in in injury time. minutes.
It leaves Adelaide two points off the qualification spots heading into the final round of group games, where they are facing a must-win clash against China’s Jiangsu.
Shun Nagasawa’s near-post header from a corner put Gamba ahead after six minutes, before 18-year-old Ritsu Doan spotted Adelaide goalkeeper Eugene Galekovic off his line to make it 2-0.
Adelaide’s Sergio Cirio scored just before half-time and Jordan O’Doherty produced a spectacular finish to level the scores at 2-2 after the break.
Michael Marrone’s own goal seemed to have sealed Adelaide’s fate, but the game had a final twist when Diawara rose unchallenged to rescue a point for the visitors.
Gamba, who are now eliminated, were left to rue an embarrassing penalty miss by Japan veteran Yasuhito Endo, who ballooned his spot-kick over the bar when the scores were locked at 2-2.