View From Gongti: Beijing Guoan 1-0 Guangzhou R&F

Beijing Guoan was back at it, a week after losing to league leaders Guangzhou Evergrande, they returned to Worker’s Stadium to take on Guangzhou R&F and managed a hard fought 1-0 victory.

While new signing Freddie Kanoute was taking in the match from the stands alongside Guoan’s number one foreign fan Stephon Marbury, the club’s other new foreign signing Joffre Guerron was on the subs bench and would make an impression on the home supporters. Guoan was once again playing without a traditional striker in the lineup, but it didn’t seem to hurt the offense too much, as they still produced a couple chances in the first half.

In the second half, a good Xu Liang ball found Wang Xiaolong in the box, some nifty moves opened up space for the winger (and had his defender in knots) and he played a high cross to a wide open Shao Jiayi, who headed it home, for the one (and only) goal Guoan would need on the night.

Guoan and their faithful fans will head south to take on rivals Shanghai Shenhua this weekend, though Didier Drogba won’t be suiting up. They then return home to face Hangzhou Greentown on the 22nd and then a friendly against Bavarian big boys, Bayern Munich.

Read Brandon's full match report at WildEastFootball.