Veteran striker Oribe Peralta ended Guangzhou s stubborn resistance with a diving header five minutes after the break, only for substitute Zheng Long to equalise against the run of play for Luiz Felipe Scolari s side with 10 minutes left.
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Cash-rich Guangzhou are unbeaten since the former Brazil and Chelsea coach took over the southern Chinese club in June, capturing their second Asian title in three years in October but Scolari has a mixed record in Japan.
Should the Catalan side get the better of Guangzhou, winners of the Asian Champions League, they will face River Plate or Sanfrecce Hiroshima in the final.
Zheng Long and Paulinho scored the two goals to help Evergrande with the win. Today it is one more time the goal came in the last minute.
Scolari was delighted with his team and pleased with the changes he made after falling behind.
“Football’s a 90-minute game and we were desperate to make the semi-finals, so I made some high-risk substitutions”, said Scolari.
“Barcelona without Neymar is still a great team”.
Former Chelsea boss “Big Phil” said ahead of his side’s clash with Mexican outfit Club America: ‘You can tell Brazil that I am very happy in China, really content… despite the defeat in Brazil, ‘ added Scolari, whose facial expression varied between puzzled, as his words were translated into Chinese, and disapproving, at some of the questions which were asked. Maybe on another night they might not have, but I know the team and I know what they are capable of.
In the 3-0 win over TP Mazembe in Osaka, the Purple Archers were a class above the Africans, at least in front of goal.
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Benedetto had a shot from close range saved on the stroke of halftime before Goltz headed over from the edge of the six-yard box. We know we are small but we want to achieve great things. Asia will be watching especially to see if Guangzhou can beat Barcelona. Fellow defender Kazuhiko Chiba headed the team further into the lead after the restart and Takuma Asano sealed the victory nine minutes from the end.
