Thu, 28 Oct, 2021
Seongnam: Coach Fabio Cannavaro has backed former winners Guangzhou Evergrande to bounce back from Wednesday’s 2-1 first leg defeat by Korea Republic’s Seongnam FC to remain on course for a fourth consecutive appearance in the quarter-finals of the AFC Champions League.
Guangzhou looked to have held on following Li Xuepeng’s 65th minute red card after midfielder Huang Bowen had netted a spectacular equaliser for the 2013 champions three minutes before half-time after Brazilian Jorginho had opened the scoring for two-time continental champions Seongnam midway through the first half.
But with Seongnam netting a 96th minute penalty through captain Kim Do-heon, Guangzhou must come from behind in next week’s second leg to avoid a first-ever exit in the last 16 of the AFC Champions League.
Match report: Seongnam FC 2-1 Guangzhou Evergrande
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“The players are angry and annoyed. They are angry because it was a tough match and we had a red card and a penalty, but I trust they will use this anger in the second match when we play at home in Guangzhou,” said Cannavaro.
“This match is over two legs and we lost the first half, but we have the second game at home in Guangzhou and we will prepare for this game.
“We scored an away goal and that is very important and we will look to prepare and we will see who passes to the next round.”
Group H winners Guangzhou have now failed to win their last four matches in the AFC Champions League having also lost to Australia’s Western Sydney Wanderers 2-0 last time out at home.
“We feel it is a pity because we had many chances to score, but we didn’t have good chances to score,” added Cannavaro.
“This is football and we had chances to close the match before, but we did not have the opportunity to score and it is a pity we lost.”
But before next week’s second leg at Tianhe Sports Center Stadium, Guangzhou must first turn their attentions to Saturday’s derby with Guangzhou R&F in the Chinese Super League.
“We need to think about the next match as it is the derby in Guangzhou. We need to prepare for this match and then look at the game against Seongnam,” said Cannavaro.
“We know Guangzhou are also strong, but I believe we have the quality to get a good result in both games.”
Photo: WSG