Zhizhao Yuci beat Beijing Guoan 3-1 in the FA Cup quarter-finals on Monday evening. The result sends the hosts into the last four, while the visitors' campaign comes to an end at this stage. It was a match that swung from control to chaos, and you could see the shift coming long before the final whistle.
Deng Jiefu opened the scoring in the twenty-sixth minute, a moment that settled the nerves of the home side. To be fair, Beijing had looked lively in their recent outings — three wins and a draw in their last five — but they found no answer to the pressure at the back. J. Lu doubled the lead just after the break, forty-eight minutes in, and that goal changed the complexion of the evening. By then the visitors were chasing shadows rather than playing football.
The substitutions came thick and fast once the game opened up. Jia Feifan and Fan Shuangjie were brought on together in the forty-sixth minute, an attempt to stabilise the midfield. Liu Xinyu followed in the fifty-eighth, and then Zhao Xiaolong and Yang Shengming arrived together at sixty-nine. Wang Yu came on at seventy-one, and both sides kept throwing bodies forward. It was the kind of match where the tactical board goes out the window.
What followed was a flurry of goals that left everyone on their feet. Zhang Yuning pulled one back for Beijing in the eighty-sixth minute, and Li Lei was immediately substituted in response. Then Cao Yongjing struck in stoppage time, ninety-plus-six minutes in, to complete a nine-goal encounter. The home side held on, and here's the thing — it was never really in doubt after that second goal.
Zhizhao Yuci's recent form showed glimpses of solidity, with two clean sheets in their last five games. Beijing had been involved in some high-scoring affairs, including a 4-2 win over Tianjin Teda and a 3-3 draw with Yunnan Yukun. This match was different, though. They had nothing to lose and everything to play for, but the structure simply wasn't there when it mattered.
The quarter-final draw now awaits, and the mood around the stadium was buoyant. For Beijing, it's a case of reflecting on what went wrong — too many late goals conceded, not enough control in the middle. Zhizhao Yuci can raise the tempo when they need to, and this performance suggested they're ready for whatever comes next.