Beijing Guoan beat Zhejiang Professional 2:1 on Friday at the Workers' Stadium. The result moves the hosts into third place in the Super League table on 26 points after 21 matches. Zhejiang remain tenth with 28 points from 25 games, but this defeat ends a decent run of form for the visitors.
The opening salvo arrived early. Fabio Abreu converted a penalty on eight minutes after Uroš Spajić was brought down in the box. Cheng Jin doubled the lead on twelve minutes with a well-taken finish. Yue Tze-Nam picked up a yellow card on forty-one minutes before the break as tensions began to rise.
Zhejiang pulled one back through Zhang Xizhe on eighty-two minutes. The visitors had created nothing in terms of big chances all evening. Their keeper made no saves, which tells you everything about Beijing's dominance. Several substitutions followed as the hosts looked to see out the match, with Uroš Spajić coming off on sixty-nine minutes.
The statistics paint a clear picture. Beijing held 64 per cent possession and registered 127 attacks. They took 22 shots but only two hit the target. Their shot accuracy sat at ten per cent. Zhejiang managed 45 attacks and registered five shots on target.
This victory extends Beijing's unbeaten run to five matches. They drew with Chengdu Rongcheng and Shenyang Urban, beat Dalian Quyi and Shandong Taishan, and edged Wuhan Three Towns. The hosts fancy their chances of pushing for a higher finish this season.