View From Gongti: Beijing Guoan 1-1 FC Tokyo

In an emotional, dirty Asian Champions League match last night, Beijing Guoan could only manage a 1-1 draw against FC Tokyo, putting their hopes of advancing beyond the group stage in doubt.

If going head-to-head against a Japanese team wasn’t enough, the fans had an added reason to be excited, the newly crowned CBA champion Beijing Ducks were in attendance.

The crowd of over 31,000 gave them a warm welcome, but then turned their focus to the men on the pitch, who quickly got the crowd on their feet. A gifted penalty was awarded when Wang Changqing went down in the box. It was midfielder Wang Xiaolong who stepped up and converted the penalty to give Guoan the lead 11 minutes into the match.

Just before the half, a failed clearance for Guoan and some nice passing from FC Tokyo found Iranian-Japanese attacker Aria Jasuru Hasegawa just outside the box for the equalizer.

Manager Jaime Pacheco made some second half adjustments and while Guoan dominated the chances, they couldn’t produce the winner, settling for a single point. At the halfway point in the group stage, Guoan’s 2 points is going to make getting to the round of 16 a real uphill battle.

Read Brandon's full match report at WildEastFootball.