Scolari’s Evergrande squash historic ‘Beef Ball’ bid
HONG KONG: Luiz Felipe Scolari’s Guangzhou Evergrande crushed Hong Kong’s Eastern 60 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 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 half-time.
Brazilian forward Alan poached two goals in the second half before Paulinho got his second from close range and Yu Hanchao’s injury time free kick trickled in.
In Group H, South Korea’s Jeju United beat already- qualified Jiangsu Suning 2-1 to move into second place above Adelaide United, who scrambled a 3-3 draw with Gamba Osaka. — AFP