Advertisement

Soccer-Goulart strikes twice as Guangzhou edge Seongnam

May 27 (Reuters) - AFC Champions League top scorer Ricardo Goulart struck twice as Guangzhou Evergrande moved into the last eight once again with a 2-0 home win over Seongnam of South Korea on Wednesday. The reigning Chinese champions advanced to the quarter-finals for the fourth consecutive year 3-2 on aggregate after the injury-hit side overturned last week's 2-1 loss. Guangzhou coach Fabio Cannavaro had called on passionate fans to roar his side to success at the Tianhe Stadium in China on Wednesday and they played their part against the twice champions. Seongnam still created plenty of chances to grab a goal, but the expert finishing of Brazilian Goulart proved the difference as he took his tally to seven in the tournament and made up for the absence of injured prolific team mate Elkeson. Goulart, signed from Cruzeiro earlier this year, converted a 21st-minute penalty to put Guangzhou ahead on away goals after Kwak Hae-sung was deemed to have handled a long-range shot from Huang Bowen. Kwak was booked after lengthy protests by his team mates but Goulart was undeterred by the delay as he sent goalkeeper Park Jun-hyuk the wrong way with the spot kick. Clean sheets have been a rare occurrence for Guangzhou in former Real Madrid and Juventus defender Cannavaro's first campaign, and goalkeeper Zeng Cheng was forced into a number of saves as Seongnam took control of the game. He needed to stay low to deny Kim Do-heon a 39th minute equaliser but was almost left red-faced after misjudging an inswinging corner four minutes after the break that smacked against his near post. Seongnam thought they had levelled three minutes later when they put the ball in the back of the net, but Ricardo Bueno was rightfully deemed offside before playing the final pass. The near misses were to prove costly for the South Koreans as Goulart expertly added a second in the 57th minute with a brilliant flicked near-post header that sailed out of Park's reach into the far corner of the net. Seongnam pushed on against a retreating Guangzhou backline, with Kim Do-heon firing agonisingly wide with 13 minutes remaining, but Zeng held firm as the 2013 champions advanced to the delight of former coach Marcello Lippi, who watched from the stands. (Writing by Patrick Johnston in Singapore, editing by Stephen Wood)