Capital city team Beijing Guoan FC (5-4-5, 20 points) survived a late red card to extend its undefeated run to five games with a 2-1 victory over contending squad Shanghai Greenland Shenhua FC (5-3-7, 22 points) at their home ground of Workers' Stadium in Beijing last Saturday, June 25.

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Attacking midfielder Zhang Xizhe, a former player of Bundesliga club VfL Wolfsburg, was the man of the match after he scored a quick brace at the 66th and 69th minutes with assists coming from winger Zhang Chengdong and striker Yu Dabao respectively, China.org reported.

The visitors, who are coming off a stunning 4-0 rout of bottom two squad Hangzhou Greentown FC in the previous round, managed to score a consolation goal with seven minutes left before full time as Senegalese import Demba Ba's shot from a pass by fellow foreigner Obafemi Martins of Nigeria found the back of Beijing goalkeeper Yang Zhi's net.

One minute after Ba's goal, Dabao was called for a direct red card which put the Imperial Guards in a one-man disadvantage with six minutes left in regulation.

Shanghai head coach Gregorio Manzano, who was Beijing Guoan's coach from 2014 up to last season, was not able to take advantage of his former team's 10-man lineup as his boys failed to find the equalizer until the final whistle. It was Manzano's first time to set foot on the Workers' Stadium since he moved to Shanghai in January.

Interestingly, Guoan's undefeated streak started when former manager Alberto Zaccheroni, who was the direct predecessor of Manzano, was sacked on June 20, as per CCTV English.

Beijing had three wins and two draws in their last five matches to lift them to the eighth spot of the league table. The team had been settling at the bottom three of the standings for the first few weeks of the term and had since recovered from their poor start to the season.

Meanwhile, Shanghai Shenhua snapped their seven-game unbeaten run with the loss to Guoan as they stayed at fifth place in the overall standings, tied on points with sixth-running squad Henan Jianye but has a superior goal difference.

TagsChina Football, Chinese Super League, Chinese Super League news, beijing guoan fc, Shanghai Greenland Shenhua FC