Guangzhou Power completed a tricky away task at Yanbian Longding, winning 2:1 in the League One regular season on Friday evening. The result keeps the visitors top of the table while Yanbian remain fifth, 16 points adrift. And here's the thing — this was not a game decided by dominance, but by moments that mattered.
Yanbian started brightly enough, but their evening unravelled around the quarter-hour mark. Joao Carlos picked up two bookings in five minutes, first at 21 and then again at 29, before the referee showed him the red at the quarter-hour. To be fair, the hosts had already threatened — they created one big chance before the dismissal, and that was all they needed to worry about.
The own goal from Kou Jiahao at 45+2 gave Yanbian a lifeline, but it was short-lived. Nikao converted a penalty at 54 to restore Guangzhou's advantage, and the game settled into a pattern where the visitors looked to hit on the break. Yanbian had 62 per cent possession but couldn't turn it into clear-cut opportunities, while Guangzhou made more of what they had.
Things came to a head in the closing stages. Yanbian pushed forward, but Guangzhou held firm until Li Ximin tapped home at 90+1 to seal the victory. The substitute had come on at 90+1 himself, and within moments he was on the scoresheet. By then, Yanbian's hopes were already fading — they had made four substitutions in the second half and still couldn't find a way back.
The statistics tell a familiar story. Yanbian had 364 passes to Guangzhou's 227, but only one big chance created against three for the visitors. Both sides managed three shots on target, but Guangzhou's efficiency was sharper. They won 27 aerial duels to 22, and their 15 interceptions compared to 4 showed how well they read the game when Yanbian lost possession.
The result means Guangzhou extend their lead at the summit, while Yanbian's five-game winless run — two losses and three draws — continues. They have played 23 games and sit on 35 points, while the visitors move to 51. And here's the thing about these League One fixtures: the gap between the top and the middle is widening, and tonight was a reminder of why.