Thu, 28 Oct, 2021
Jeju: Guangzhou Evergrande edged closer to a place in the AFC Champions League Round of 16 as two first-half goals earned them a 2-0 victory over Group G rivals Jeju United on Matchday Four on Wednesday.
The home side had the first good effort on goal when Lee Chang-min struck a powerful shot just wide in the eighth minute.
Guangzhou created an opening when Ricardo Goulart chested the ball into the path of Alan but the Brazilian couldn’t get his shot on target.
The visitors then took the lead with a glorious strike in the 27th minute. After good work on the left, Alan teed up Nemanja Gudelj and the midfielder rifled an unstoppable shot into the top right-hand corner from 20 yards out.
The Chinese side went two ahead 10 minutes later when Alan stole in to head home Yu Hanchao’s deep cross from just inside the six-yard box.
Guangzhou threatened at the start of the second half as Goulart’s 20-yard shot was pushed wide by Lee Chang-geun before the Jeju keeper beat out an effort from Gao Lin.
A minute later Ryu Seung-woo ran onto a long ball but Zeng Cheng came out to block his shot.
Zeng Cheng was called upon again as he made an acrobatic save to keep out Lee Chang-min’s excellent free-kick in the 63rd minute.
Jeju kept pushing but Guangzhou defended well as they moved one step closer to the last 16.
And the match ended on a sour note for Jeju as Kim Won-il received his second yellow card in added time.
The result leaves Guangzhou three points clear of Buriram United and Cerezo Osaka at the top of the group with eight points from their four games, while Jeju remain bottom on three points.
Both teams have away fixtures on Matchday Five, with Jeju at Cerezo Osaka, while Guangzhou travel to Thailand to face Buriram United where they can seal qualification for the last 16 with a win.