Evergrande cruise into finals

Statistics

Guangzhou Evergrande secured a Chinese FA Cup final spot on Wednesday night after a nine-goal thriller in the second leg of their semifinal match against visitors Beijing Guoan with 6-3 in Guangzhou.

The defending champions won the semifinals 7-3 on aggregate.

Elkeson of Evergrande scored the opening goal thanks to a pass from skipper Zheng Zhi, the newly crowned Asian Player of the Year, in the 33th -minute. Dario Conca doubled the hosts' lead only 10 minutes later, which pushed Guoan's head coach Aleksandar Stanojevic to make two substitutions, expecting Joffre Guerron and Egor Krimets to spark a revival.

It was Peter Utaka who restored some pride for the struggling visitors. The -Nigerian helped his team to level the score with a hat trick in the second half after Zhang Linpeng headed one more goal for the hosts near the hour mark.

But Evergrande were put into the lead again by former Beijing Guoan player Huang Bowen, strengthened by -Muriqui and Conca.

Captain Zheng was substituted in the 74th minute by Feng Junyan as he was considered fatigued in the second half after attending Tuesday's AFC award ceremony in Kuala Lumpur.

Frederic Kanoute's farewell show saw him sent off with only several minutes to go. The former Sevilla player indicated via Twitter he will not extend his contract with Guoan on Monday.

"It would be really a pity if Kanoute decide to retire … This year his performance was sensational, he scored a lot of important goals. It's not easy for a -career-ending player to have such an outstanding season," said Stanojevic.

Speaking of his team's performance on Wednesday, the Serbian remained enthusiastic.

"We had more chances, but were struggling to score. As for our opponents, they grabbed goals in only several chances," he said.

"It cannot be denied that my players did well in the second half, as they were not losing their confidence when Evergrande were in a big lead. They fought till the end."

Marcelo Lippi also showed his concern at the post-match news conference.

"I didn't get angered when Guoan equalized at 3-3, just a little worried. My players weren't in a good form as tiredness impaired them. I'm satisfied with today's result."

Lippi also paid tribute to Kanoute. "He is a great player who used to play for higher-level clubs … He is a high-level player in the Chinese Super League," the Italian said.

Already qualified Guizhou Renhe, who defeated Aerbin 4-2 on aggregate, will host Evergrande on Sunday in Guiyang. The second-leg final will be on December 7 in Guangzhou.