DOUGLAS scored twice in the final 20 minutes as Sanfrecce Hiroshima came from behind to defeat Guangzhou Evergrande Taobao 2-1 in Yokohama, sealing third place in the Club World Cup yesterday.

    Paulinho had put Luiz Felipe Scolari’s men on course to become the first Chinese team to finish third in the competition, but Douglas struck twice with two late headers.

    That means Sanfrecce sealed third spot after finishing fifth in its only other participation in the competition back in 2012. Guangzhou, meanwhile, failed to improve on its fourth-place finish from the 2013 tournament.

    Paulinho had given Scolari’s side the lead after just three minutes. A short corner allowed Li Xuepeng the chance to put a quality ball into the box, which Elkeson headed on target, only to see his effort pushed away by Hiroshima keeper Takuto Hayashi.

    Hayashi’s punch only fell to Gao Lin, who lashed at goal from a half-volley, skewing his effort in the direction of Paulinho, with the former Tottenham midfielder reacting brilliantly to turn the ball home with his head and score his second of the tournament.

    Going behind early on served as a wake-up call for Sanfrecce, who took the game to Guangzhou for the rest of the half, creating a number of chances they could not capitalize on.

    Evergrande keeper Li Shuai did brilliantly to deny Hisato Sato’s flicked header, before Li had to rely on defender Mei Fang to make a goal-line clearance to deny Takuya Marutani’s effort.

    After the break, Li could only save Takuma Asano’s shot at the second attempt as Sanfrecce came close to an equalizer, while Ricardo Goulart headed just off-target from six meters at the other end in the best chance Guangzhou had to double their lead. (SD-Agencies)