Thu, 28 Oct, 2021
Parramatta: Coach Fabio Cannavaro praised both the good football and character put on show by Guangzhou Evergrande as the former AFC Champions League winners edged out defending champions Western Sydney Wanderers 3-2 at Parramatta Stadium on Wednesday.
Ricardo Goulart’s 19th minute opener had put the Chinese Super League champions into the lead at half-time, and although an Iacopo La Rocca header on 57 minutes momentarily tied the scorers, Goulart was on target once more a minute later before completing his hat-trick on the 64th minute.
Guangzhou were then rocked by goalkeeper Zeng Cheng’s injury following a collision with Kim Young-gwon that saw the custodian withdrawn on 82 minutes after a lengthy delay that meant 17 minutes of additional injury time was added, during which Romeo Castelen reduced the deficit for Western Sydney.
But Cannavaro’s side were able to ride out the remainder of the tie go top of Group H with their second consecutive win having beaten FC Seoul last week in southern China.
Match report: Western Sydney Wanderers 2-3 Guangzhou Evergrande
“Today has been a very difficult match but I’m happy with my team because we played good football and I really appreciate the character they showed,” said FIFA World Cup winner Cannavaro.
“Of course we have to improve, we have to know when to attack, when to defend, how to control the match and everything so we need to improve.”
Zeng’s injury added to that of Brazilian striker Alan who is thought to be out for around six months after suffering an injury in training.
“The injury is quite serious I think he (Alan) will be out for a long time. For the goalkeeper, it isn’t as serious and he went to the hospital just for checks,” added Cannavaro.
“Of course it (Zeng’s injury) had an effect on the match, but we knew that because we aren’t at home they were going to try their best in the last few minutes and they were going to attack, but we were prepared and we knew that after such a long break the match will be affected.”
For Western Sydney, the defeat was the second high-scoring loss in the last seven days after their 4-3 defeat by Sydney FC in the A-League on Saturday.
“Today was a great spectacle for people but for us disappointing to get beaten it seems as though we’re having to swallow a few of these of late,” said Western Sydney assistant coach Ian Crook.
“Last year they had (Alberto) Gilardino and Elkeson who is probably one of the best players in Asia if not the best, (Alessandro) Diamanti as well and this year they have Goulart, Elkeson and Alan who didn’t play today. They have quality all over the park but we believe we have competed with them and I thought it was a great game tonight.
“And on the positive side, we’ve shown again that we’re on the right track and when it does turn for us it’ll turn in a big way.”
Photo: WSG