Beijing Guoan beats Sanfrecce Hiroshima 2-1 at AFC Champions League

Beijing Guoan continued their momentum at the second Group G match of the AFC Champions League by beating J-League's champion Sanfrecce Hiroshima 2-1 with a dominant play here on Wednesday.

Guoan's defender Lang Zheng gave the hosts 1-0 lead in the 21st minute with a well-taken strike on a corner. The visitors' striker Ishihara Naoki leveled the score in the 75th minute, but Piao Cheng secured the victory for Beijing with a spectacular shot only three minutes later.

Guoan, who held a goalless draw with former AFC Champions League winners Pohang Steelers from South Korea in their first group match, now ranked second in Group G with four points. Uzbekistan's Bunyodkor, also on four points after drawing Pohang Steelers 2-2, topped the group due to goal difference advantage.

"We should secure the victory in early stage according to our performance on the pitch," said Guoan's assistant coach Slobodan Kuljanin, who replaced Aleksandar Stanojevic to the press conference after the coach was sent off because of shouting at the referee with seven minutes left.

Guoan had a better start with Ecuadorian striker Guerron going close with a shot inside the area, while Sanfrecce Hiroshima found difficulty in attacking without their top scorer Hisato Sato.

Lang gave the hosts the lead on the corner sent by Zhang Xizhe as he came from behind with a powerful strike. Guoan adapted to defensive play after taking the lead, while the visitor gradually took the control and completed two dangerous shots in the rest of the first half.

Guoan started the second half in a more aggressive fashion as Zhang Xizhe, Guerron, Frederic Oumar Kanoute all had the chances to enlarge the lead, but only saw their efforts went wide.

Sanfrecce Hiroshima grasped their mere chance in the 75th minute as Ishihara Naoki scored with a close-range shot. However, video showed that Naoki held the ball in the penalty box with his left arm.

The hosts were not influenced and fought back just three minutes later as midfielder Piao shrugged off his marker in the middle edge of the area and scored with a powerful shot.