Guangzhou claims vital 2-0 first leg victory
Print Edition
Midfield maestro Dario Conca put Guangzhou Evergrande on course for the AFC Champions League semifinals as he inspired a 2-0 win over Qatar’s Lekhwiya last night in Guangzhou.
The tournament favorites left it late before the Argentine converted a penalty on 72 minutes. He set up Elkeson four minutes later with a back-heeled pass in the box to give Guangzhou an extra cushion ahead of the return leg in Doha on September 18.
The victory at a noisy Tianhe Sports Center means Guangzhou, led by World Cup-winning coach Marcello Lippi, are odds-on to reach the last four for the first time.
Guangzhou entered the quarterfinals as the tournament’s joint top-scorers and runaway domestic leaders, and it was no surprise when they dominated possession in the first half.
But the Chinese double-holders were off-key in front of goal with striker Gao Lin bobbling a cross harmlessly to the ‘keeper when a goal threatened, and then glancing a diving header wide.
Lekhwiya were crowding out the normally free-flowing Guangzhou with a packed defense. Even Muriqui, the competition’s leading scorer with eight goals, showed fallibility as he put a great chance over.
Gao fired a shot across the face and Conca, estimated as one of the world’s best paid players when he joined Guangzhou in 2011, swerved a free-kick just wide.
Lekhwiya’s rare forays forward had been marked by long-range pot-shots but striker Sebastian Suria nearly gave them a shock lead just before half-time with a stinging shot from distance.
Guangzhou’s frustrations continued after the break and Elkeson, with 20 goals in 21 domestic appearances, was guilty of a glaring miss when he put a free header wide.
The Brazilian bungled again when a throw-in slipped out of his hands and traveled only a few feet, in what was threatening to become a night to forget for the hosts.
Conca had a chance saved at point-blank range by Lekhwiya goalkeeper Claude Amin, who played hero again minutes later when he denied Muriqui in a one-on-one.
And Elkeson had an open goal at his mercy and still hit the post, although his blushes were spared by the linesman’s flag for offside.
Eventually Guangzhou needed a penalty to break the deadlock and when Conca went down in a clumsy challenge from Khaled Muftah, he stepped up and sent Amin the wrong way to give his team the lead.
Just four minutes later, the Argentine turned creator as he back-heeled a one-two with Elkeson who ran on to the return ball and powered home Guangzhou’s second.
Earlier Saudi Arabia’s Al Shabab held Japan’s Kashiwa Reysol to a 1-1 away draw to raise its hopes of reaching the semifinals for the first time.
Masato Kudo opened the scoring for Kashiwa but Fernando Menegazzo, swept in a glorious shot off the underside of the bar to level the match.
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