DOHA (Qatar): A goal from A Lan sent Beijing FC into the AFC Champions League quarterfinals for the first time in club history, with the Chinese outfit winning 1-0 against FC Tokyo in Round of 16 clash at Education City Stadium on Sunday.
The Brazilian-born striker, formally known as Alan Carvalho, scored the decisive goal in the 59th minute, stretching Bruno Génésio’s side’s unbeaten run in the tournament to seven matches, and taking them to within three wins of a maiden Asian title.
Tokyo’s defeat ends their stay in Doha but extends a run of outs at this stage of the competition, with Chinese opposition now bringing them undone in all three of their visits to the Round of 16.
The high-stakes nature of the East Zone’s first knockout stage match brought an increase of intensity, with time on the ball a luxury for both teams in a hard-fought opening 15 minutes.
Tokyo looked to press high up the pitch during that period of the match, finding early success by keeping Beijing locked into their own defensive half, and it was the Japanese side which had two of the better early chances through Tsuyoshi Watanabe and Leandro.
But, fresh from a club record 16-point group stage haul, Beijing began to find solutions, and they came the closest to breaking the deadlock before half-time when in-form A Lan drilled a low effort just wide after being supplied by Fernando.
A Lan had a much better chance to open the scoring just after half-time, but the Brazilian-born Chinese striker inexplicably missed the target from 12 yards after Renato Augusto’s excellent run and pass.
Beijing had found an extra gear. The impressive Kim Min-jae kept the pressure on Tokyo when he headed Xizhe’s corner kick just over the bar in the 57th minute, and the Chinese club’s breakthrough duly arrived two minutes later.
After his two earlier misses, the third time proved a charm for A Lan, who poked home his fourth goal of the tournament from eight yards after more magic from Renato Augusto, who dribbled into the penalty area from the flank before picking out his teammate. (Source: AFC)
