Guoan return triumphant in Beijing derby

In the much-anticipated Beijing derby in the Chinese Super League, Beijing Guoan thrashed newly promoted cross-city rivals Beijing Renhe 4-0 to register their third win in a row on Saturday evening.

Interestingly, this was the first time, the two teams from the Chinese capital locked horns with each other in the country’s top flight. It brought cheers from thousands of local fans as one of them said, “I think a derby game has come to the city late. It might be late for the capital but, at least I get to see it during my lifetime. I think Beijing should have two or three teams as the capital. That matches the status of the city.”

Much to the delight of a crowd of more than 53,000 at Workers' Stadium, Roger Schmidt's side had almost a walk in the park with Jonathan Soriano, Yu Yang, Jonathan Viera and Yu Dabao scoring against last season's second division runners-up.

Rival footballers in action during Saturday’s Beijing derby between Guoan and Renhe.

"It was different from the previous three matches. We felt much more pressure from our opponents. We were nervous to make mistakes while dealing with the ball," mentioned Beijing Guoan defender Yu Yang after his side’s comfortable win.

The two sides left no blade on the pitch uncovered before Soriano's brilliant free kick made it one-nil and after the break, goals from Yang and Viera gave the home side a 3-0 lead. Mid-fielder Viera, who scored his maiden goal in the game, said, “I feel very happy, things are working perfectly but the most important is that the team is getting good results.”

Dabao bagged a fourth goal for Guoan who proved on the night that they were still firmly the city's strongest outfit.

(CGTN)