Finally!
How long have we been waiting for this? Okay, maybe it's not a rhetorical question, the obvious answer is since the start of the season. This team went straight up ape shit all upside Changchun's head. 6 goals?!? This Guoan side only had 8 goals coming into this game and yet came up with 6 in this single effort.
The results came right from the start, despite keeping 8 players in Beijing midweek, 5 players who made the trip to Australia still featured in yesterday's lineup. Yang Pu, Paul, Ryan Griffiths, Yan Xiangchuang, and of course, Yang Zhi, all remained in the Guoan lineup this week, with the addition of Martinez, Zhang Xinxin, Tao Wei, Yang Hao, Matic, and Zhang Yonghai.
Changchun came out of the gate motivated in front of a decent home crowd and had a great chance, which Yang Zhi just barely was able to parry wide. Guoan was equal to Changchun's attack, responding with a Martinez shot from outside the box that went just high. The shot was a harbinger of things to come, with Guoan finally deciding to challenge the keeper with longer shots from outside the box, where up until this game, more often than not, they were always trying to work the ball into the box, instead of make sure the keeper stays honest with some long, hard shots.
Shortly after the Martinez shot, Tao Wei played it to Yang Hao, who ripped a shot from the top of the box and into the back of the net. Changchun went back on the attack, but once again Yang Zhi was able to meet the challenge, and started Guoan's response, this time coming from a Griffiths long shot that was nailed upper 90, 2-nil Guoan on 2 great shots from outside the box. Once again, Changchun responded with a strong chance, a breakaway which Yang Zhi shut down. Seriously folks, if Guoan didn't have Yang in net, this side would be absolutely horrible. As was the pattern, Guoan went back down field and well, Martinez was pulled down in the box, should have been a yellow card at least, probably a penalty shot, instead, he was called for offsides and given a yellow card, very strange, but fortunately it didn't matter in the end.
Going into the locker room at the half, Guoan had to be excited about being in the lead, though Changchun threatened a number of times and 2 goals still wasn't going to be enough for comfort. It didn't matter, Beijing came out pumped and ready to kill off the game, going straight at Changchun, this time it was Griffiths again from a little closer this time, but still outside the box, 5 minutes into the 2nd half. Before you knew it, Yan was headed back down the field and got one of his own, to put them up 4-0.
Sui Dongliang, who came on as a 2nd half substitute, added another in the 70th minute to pile onto Changchun. Changchun finally responded 10 minutes later, but it was too little, too late AND it motivated Guoan to get one more, once again it was Yan who stepped up, going all 90 minutes after going 90 midweek in Australia and then flying the 20 hours back to Beijing. Changchun added one more in added time to make the result a little more respectable, but still, 6-2 to Beijing, earning 3 points and the most goals scored in one game by any team in the CSL so far this year.
It's easy to get excited about this result, but I'm staying reserved. I've hoped for this, waited for it, expected it all season long, but only been disappointed. I also got fairly excited after the victory in Chengdu only to be let down with a spell of crappy play. This was only one game, an exciting one, but just one. It was good to see the midfield step up and it was especially good to see that we can win without Huang Bowen and, especially, Joel Griffiths.
I hope this match serves as a turning point and, in theory, it should be relatively smooth sailing, with Shenzhen coming up at Gongti on Friday and then Qingdao (also at home), leading into the 2 week international break. I also think this match answers some questions for Lee, namely Griffiths and Yan are responding to the time they spent out of the lineup, these guys want in and they deserve to continue to start.
Anyways, 3 points in convincing fashion, sitting only 4 points back, finally gives Guoan fans something to celebrate.
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