NEMANJA GUDELJ scored his first goal for Guangzhou Evergrande as the two-time Asian Champions League (ACL) winner moved a step closer to the knockout rounds with a 2-0 win over South Korea’s Jeju United on Wednesday evening.

The Serbia midfielder smashed his rising shot into the top corner from the edge of the area to give Guangzhou the lead before Alan Carvalho claimed his eighth goal in seven games in all competitions.

Gudelj has come under scrutiny since joining Guangzhou in the winter as the replacement for Brazilian midfielder Paulinho, who left midway through last season to join Barcelona, but coach Fabio Cannavaro defended the former Ajax midfielder.

“I’ve never compared Gudelj with Paulinho and I won’t do that in the future,” Cannavaro said. “Gudelj had tendinitis in his Achilles when he arrived here. He was a bit late and he didn’t do 100 percent of our winter training.

“Now he has started to settle in and I’m very happy for him. He has worked very hard and goals are always the best payoff.”

The win moves Guangzhou to eight points from four games and a win over Thailand’s Buriram United in their next game April 3 will take the seven-time Chinese Super League winner into the last 16.

On an impressive night for Chinese clubs, Tianjin Quanjian notched up a 4-2 win over two-time champion Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors, with goals from Anthony Modeste and Alexandre Pato in the final six minutes earning Tianjin all three points.

Wang Yongpo gave Tianjin the lead after just eight minutes before Kim Shin-wook levelled for Jeonbuk. Zhang Cheng headed the home side back in front 10 minutes in the second half only for Adriano to score.

The game looked destined for a draw but Modeste netted six minutes from time before setting up Pato to put the result beyond doubt deep into injury time.

(SD-Agencies)