Thu, 28 Oct, 2021
Guangzhou: A goal from Edgar Silva earned Buriram United an important 1-1 draw against Guangzhou Evergrande at the Tianhe Stadium in their opening match in Group G of the 2018 AFC Champions League on Wednesday.
The home side started in dominant fashion and thought they had taken an early lead inside 10 minutes, only for it to be ruled out by an offside flag.
There would be no denying the two-time Asian champions just over five minutes later when Ricardo Goulart got on the end of Li Xuepeng’s cross to head home the opening goal of the evening.
After a shaky start Buriram United regrouped and started to threaten the Guangzhou Evergrande defence as the match wore on. Their reward came just before the hour mark when Korrakot Wiriyaudomsiri’s free-kick into the box wasn’t dealt with, falling at the feet of Brazilian Edgar Silva to bundle home.
Bozidar Bandovic’s men came agonisingly close to stealing a winner in the 82nd minute when Sasalak Haiprakon, who had only come on as a substitute two minutes earlier, glanced his header onto the crossbar.
In the end both teams settled for a share of the points and now look forward to Matchday Two, when Guangzhou Evergrande travel to Japan to take on Cerezo Osaka and Buriram United face Korea Republic’s Jeju United at home.