Thu, 28 Oct, 2021
Guangzhou: Guangzhou Evergrande coach Fabio Cannavaro lauded the performance of Ricardo Goulart after the Brazilian striker’s brace lifted the Chinese champions to a 4-3 win over Kashima Antlers on Wednesday and sent them five points clear at the top of Group H in the AFC Champions League.
Elkeson and substitute Zhao Xuri were also on target as Evergrande came from two goals down to beat the Japanese side at Tianhe Sport Centre Stadium but it was Goulart (pictured) who caught the eye as he raised his tally in the competition to six goals in three games.
ACL MD3 – Group H: Guangzhou Evergrande 4-3 Kashima Antlers
“Goulart is undoubtedly a great player. As an individual player or as a team player he is helping us significantly,” said Cannavaro.
“He is new here and it is not an easy situation for him. But so far he is doing great and I hope he can keep it up. Evergrande spent a lot to bring him in and today he proved that he's worth it, and we made a good deal.”
Cannavaro was less concerned with the narrow margin of his side’s victory than the fact that they have a perfect record after three games.
“As long as we are winning the game, it means we scored more goals than our opponents,” said the former Italy captain.
“Football is a difficult sport and if you want us to beat the other team by four or give more goals in every game, then you are being unrealistic.
“Kashima are a strong team and they are not here to surrender. They will fight till the end and they always try to control the ball. In my opinion they are better than the other two teams in our group.”
Goals by Hiroyuki Takasaki and Shoma Doi saw the visitors briefly take the lead in the second half but despite Gaku Shibasaki’s stoppage-time strike, they remained rooted to the bottom of the group with no points from three games.
“It was a very entertaining match with seven goals,” said Kashima coach Toninho Cerezo.
“Prior to the game I told my players that we had to be careful with their set pieces. But anyway, I thought that we tried our best.
“Although we lost the game today, we were able to give a good match and play beautiful football. This is the charm of the sport: even if you don't win you can give good matches.
“Today I don't see any big differences between my players and the Evergrande players. We just couldn't convert our chances into goals so we may need some good strikers.”
Photo: WSG