Evergrande fan ‘invasion’ flops as Sydney wins, SIPG sees off Suwon
Print Edition
MILOS Dimitrijevic’s late winner stunned China’s Guangzhou Evergrande yesterday as the super-rich AFC Champions League title-holder fell 1-2 to a determined Sydney FC.
Luiz Felipe Scolari’s Evergrande boasts one of Asia’s most potent and expensive strike-forces, but Dimitrijevic’s 88th-minute clincher and Ricardo Goulart’s penalty miss made it an away trip to forget.
Evergrande had raised hackles by tweeting a mock-up of a naval invasion of Sydney Harbour, with the title “Jackson Landing” — referring to 42-million-euro (US$45.6 million) striker Jackson Martinez.
But it was Graham Arnold’s side which torpedoed the visitors as Evergrande ended the second week of competition bottom of Group H with just one point from two matches.
“Before the game the coach told us, let’s try to shock Asia by winning this game, and I think we did it and I hope we will keep going,” Dimitrijevic said.
Sydney began strongly before a noisy crowd dominated by red-shirted Guangzhou supporters, swelled by Evergrande’s give-away of more than 9,000 free tickets to the local expat Chinese community.
But Sydney, assembled for a fraction of the cost of Evergrande, constantly took the game to the Chinese giant and it took a shock lead when Robert Stambolziev scored in the 17th.
The Guangzhou defenders failed to clear the ball from the danger area before a downward header from Shane Smeltz found Stambolziev, who stabbed the ball home.
The defending champion had a chance to hit back almost immediately, when record signing Martinez of Colombia was pulled down by Sebastian Ryall for a penalty.
But Brazilian playmaker Goulart’s poorly struck spot kick was well saved by home goalkeeper Vedran Janjetovic, diving sharply to his right.
However, Evergrande levelled only three minutes later when Goulart released Huang Bowen, whose shot cannoned in off lunging defender Rhyan Grant.
Goulart looked to have a good claim for a penalty nine minutes from the end when he was apparently held back by Grant as he tried to wriggle his way clear in the box.
But ultimately Serbian substitute Dimitrijevic was Sydney’s hero as his shot squirmed beneath Guangzhou goalkeeper Zeng Cheng in the 88th.
The defeat deals an early blow to Evergrande’s bid for a third Asian title in four years, following a bumper spending spree by Chinese clubs in the recent transfer window.
Elsewhere, Pohang Steelers, which held Evergrande 0-0 last week in Guangzhou, beat Urawa Red Diamonds 1-0 through Jun Ho-son’s first-half penalty to go top of Group H.
In Group G, Shanghai SIPG gave Evergrande further cause for regret when offloaded striker Elkeson fired its Chinese Super League rival to a 2-1 win over Suwon Bluewings.
The Brazilian, sold despite being Evergrande’s top-scorer last year, produced a typically strong run and finish in the first half before Wu Lei doubled Shanghai’s lead and Jang Hyun-soo pulled one back for Suwon.
In the other group game, Gamba Osaka was held 1-1 by visiting Melbourne Victory.
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