View From Gongti: Beijing Guoan 1-0 Guangzhou Evergrande

On a miserable, rainy day, Beijing Guoan took on CSL repeat league champions Guangzhou Evergrande to end the 2012 season. Guoan sent their 40,000 supporters home happy, scoring with virtually the last kick of the season to win the match 1-0.

Neither club had a lot to play for beyond pride as Evergrande had already secured the league title while Guoan was assured a spot in next season’s Asian Champions League. The lineups demonstrated that, as both sides left some of their regular starters on the bench, while Evergrande kept the hated Huang Bowen back in Guangzhou.

Beijing midfielder Wang Changqing may have been playing his last match for Guoan, but he made it count. Wang put in a top performance, setting up teammates and coming close to scoring a number of times. However, it was the oft criticized Zhang Xizhe who scored the winner in the 92nd minute. Much of the credit goes to Xu Liang for his vision and his perfectly timed lob that found Zhang all alone in front of the keeper.

There were plenty of tears after the match, the end of Guoan’s 20th season is bound to see some changes, not the least of which is that manager Jaime Pacheco is expected to leave the capital. Pacheco’s tearful, heartfelt goodbye to Guoan’s north stand ultras was particularly memorable.

The club certainly exceeded preseason expectations with their third place finish, but fans will be looking for much more next season.

Read more on Beijing Guoan and the CSL at Wild East Football.