Guangzhou win to put campaign back on track

First-half goals from Brazilians Anderson Talisca and Ai Kesen were enough for Guangzhou to avenge their defeat to Vissel Kobe just three days ago and put themselves in contention for a spot in the round of 16.

Italian legend Fabio Cannavaro had been at his wits end with his teamates inability to crack open rival defences, conceding he didn't have an explanation as to what was wrong with them.

But his strong words at press conferences and probably in the dressing room, too all finally seemed to have their desired effect as the 2013 and 2015 winners broke their long-standing jinx to jump to second spot in Group G with four points, two behind Vissel Kobe.

The Japanese side had already qualified after two wins from as many matches after their group was left with only three teams following the withdrawal of Malaysian outfit Johor Darul Tauzim.

Guangzhou, who won the Chinese Super League eight times in a 10-year period starting 2011 when they were also runners up when they didn't win the tournament in 2018 and 2020, also had a poor record against Japanese teams in the continental competition.

They had lost four of their past six games against Japanese outfits and knew full well another defeat on Saturday would have severely compromised their chances of making the round of 16.

Guangzhou established control over the match early on Saturday and went ahead in the 17th minute with a perfectly taken penalty by Talisca after he was fouled by Hirofumi Watanabe.

Talisca went on to miss two chances after that and Zhong Yihao also saw his effort saved by Vissel Kobe goalkeeper Hiroki Iikura.

Iikura, however, couldn't keep out a free-kick from Ai Kesen as Guangzhou increased their lead in the 38th minute.

Vissel Kobe managed to put pressure on Guangzhou in the final 15 minutes of the game, but Andres Iniesta saw his shot saved while Douglas headed the ball just over the bar.

Ai Kesen almost got his second goal late in the match but his shot went just wide of the far past after he had got past two defenders.

Cannavaro was breathing easy after the win.

"We started very well and did well in the first half. Anderson Talisca scored and everyone was happy, the Italian said.

"I am not so happy about our second-half performance because we controlled the game and only looked to see it through because 2-0 can be sometimes a small and risky margin."

"However, I am happy for the players because winning the game can give you a lot of confidence. Now we have one more game, so lets go!" 

His Vissel Kobe counterpart Atsuhiro Miura regretted the fact his team didn't score.

"It was a very tough game, we conceded twice in the first half, but then significantly improved after the break but could not score", said Miura.