View From Gongti: Beijing Guoan 3-1 Chengdu Blades

Last night, Beijing Guoan continued its unbeaten streak by crushing the Chengdu Blades 3-1 at Workers' Stadium. The win pretty much solidifies their spot in the Asian Champions League next season.

The first half was a disappointing affair for fans of the Men in Green, one of the worst they’ve played this season. It was hard to tell which side was second in the table and which side was in last place.

At the half, manager Jaime Pacheco must have given a rousing locker room talk as the side came out looking different in the second half and proceeded to score two goals in the opening 15 minutes. The first came when Wang Changqing beat the Chengdu keeper to a ball in the air and headed it in for his second goal in two games. The other when a Xu Liang penalty miss, not the first time that happened, was turned into a scoring opportunity when Wang got to the ball and passed to Zhou Ting in the middle who put it in.

In the 82nd minute, Chengdu was awarded a controversial penalty and was able to get one back. While it looked like it was going to be an exciting finish, Guoan quickly put the game on ice, this time from slightly further back Xu curved a free kick past the keeper, after all there’s a reason Guoan fans call him Xukeham (or China’s David Beckham).

Another good win for Guoan, after this weekend’s away match the season goes on an international break for two weeks before the Beijingers welcome Liaoning on September 10.

Read Brandon's full match report at WildEastFootball.