There’s still all to play for, says Guangzhou’s Elkeson after draw

A scoreless draw at home to Kashima Antlers may not have been the result Elkeson had hoped for on his AFC Champions League homecoming for Guangzhou Evergrande, but he remains upbeat on his side’s chances of reaching the semi-finals.

While Elkeson has starred for the Guangdong club in the Chinese Super League since returning following a three-and-a-half year stint with Shanghai SIPG, the first leg of the quarter-final against the holders on Wednesday was his first game back on the continent.

But, after an entertaining first half in front of a sea of red at Tianhe Stadium, the game petered out somewhat after the interval as Guangzhou failed to record a victory at home for the first time this campaign and the Brazil-born forward endured a quiet night.

“Kashima obviously defended really well tonight and it showed that they are a very strong team,” said Elkeson.

“It was unfortunate that we could only draw, but there’s still all to play for in the second leg in Japan.

“It was definitely important not to let them get an away goal, of course, but we can’t say that we’re happy with the result as we really wanted to win in front of our fans.”

Much of the pre-match talk had centred around Elkeson, who had also recently been granted Chinese citizenship and then called up to the national team squad for next month’s Asian Qualifiers for the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 and the AFC Asian Cup China 2023.

The last time he appeared for Guangzhou in the AFC Champions League, meanwhile, was the 2015 final, when he scored the only goal of the game at Tianhe Stadium to claim a 1-0 win over the United Arab Emirates’ Al Ahli as his side were crowned kings of Asia.

In the time the forward was away, Guangzhou never made it beyond the quarter-finals and the hope remains that he can help inspire them to the latter stages once more.

However, Elkeson fluffed his lines when a rare opportunity came his way midway through the second half, while it was Talisca who posed the biggest threat, testing Kashima goalkeeper Kwoun Sun-tae in each half and producing a performance full of energy in the centre of the park.

The goals were not forthcoming, though, as Guangzhou were unable to replicate the free-scoring form that has seen them open up a commanding lead at the top of the Chinese Super League.

“Before we played this match, we did think about how we had been playing in the CSL and wanted to replicate those performances tonight,” admitted Elkeson.

“But, you know, in the AFC Champions League – especially at this stage of the competition – all the teams are very tough and matches are not easy. Kashima are the defending champions and are a very good side.”

Indeed, the visitors could have come away from southern China with an even better result had Ryohei Shirasaki’s effort from distance in the dying moments been several inches lower.

As it was, the ball clipped the bar on the way over and the sides will start the return meeting at Kashima Soccer Stadium on September 18 with nothing to separate them.

“There are three weeks now until the second leg, so we need to use that time to practice and prepare well for the match,” added Elkeson.

“Hopefully, we can get the result we need as the away side at Kashima. We will try our best to win.”

Meanwhile, Al Hilal coach Razvan Lucescu praised his side’s ability to create chances in their 0-0 away draw against rivals Al Ittihad in the first leg of the 2019 AFC Champions League quarter-final on Tuesday.

The Riyadh-based side failed to score for the second game running in the competition, having lost the Round of 16 second leg 1-0 to Al Ahli earlier this month. They had scored in six consecutive matches prior to that.

Wingers Andre Carrillo and Salem Al Dawsari provided creativity down the two flanks and attacking pair Sebastian Giovinco and Bafetimbi Gomis combined well to create chances through the centre, but the Al Hilal players wasted chance after chance to a combination of profligacy and impressive goalkeeping by Al Ittihad’s Fawaz Al Qarni.

“We were the better team here; we reached Al Ittihad goal on multiple occasions and in a variety of ways,” said Lucescu.

“We penetrated down the middle and out wide as well, but unfortunately we could not score and had to settle for a draw. That is the way football works sometimes.”

Mohammed Al Buraik had started five of Al Hilal’s games in the 2019 AFC Champions League at right-back, with Yassir Al Shahrani on the opposite flank, but on Monday Lucescu opted for Al Shahrani on the right and moved the more defensively-minded Ali Al Bulayhi to take his spot on the left.

“Sometimes you need to have a certain balance in your XI, every match needs players with specific characteristics and today I thought Al Bulayhi was the right man for that position.