A family affair saw two Griffiths brothers overcome a third as eldest sibling Ryan scored one and Joel set up another to help Beijing Guoan defeat Newcastle Jets and Joel’s twin Adam in Beijing.
Ryan Griffiths gave the home side an early lead in the Group E encounter before Joel Griffiths found an unmarked Du Wenhui to seal the points at the death after Jets striker Sasho Petrovski somehow contrived to miss from close range with three minutes to go.
Beijing made an ideal start as they went in front after only six minutes. Wang Changqing steamed past Nicolai Topor-Stanley, who endured a torrid time all evening, and his ball into a crowded box was converted by Ryan Griffiths.
Beijing largely dominated the remainder of the half but were unable to convert superiority into goals.
The closest it came was when Wang managed to bring a good save out of keeper Ante Covic after being released by Matic Darko.
The second half descended into a tetchy affair with several players cautioned as frustrations threatened to boil over.
Jets striker Petrovski was guilty of a terrible close-range miss in the 87th minute as Donny de Groot’s cross beat keeper Yang Zhi, and it was to prove costly as Beijing forged down the other end and Joel Griffiths – ironically on loan at Guoan from the Jets – slid the ball to an unmarked Du and he sealed the points.
Despite the loss, Jets coach Gary van Egmond still drew positives from the performance.
“We can take a lot of heart out of this game,” he concluded.
“Overall we’re happy with regards to the effort and performance and some football out there was good. I’ve learnt more about our football team as well, as I’m sure Beijing have learnt about theirs.”
“The first thirty minutes I thought Beijing totally dominated the game. Their No.7 (Wang Changqing) was playing very well and causing us problems.”
Beijing Guoan chief Lee Jang-soo was happy to kick-off with a win but is hoping to see a more ruthless approach from his side as the competition wears on.
“The first game in any competition always will be the most important. The result is in our favour and I am satisfied with that,” he said.
“However in the second-half, the team wanted to conserve our one goal advantage but I don’t think that’s a very good attitude. In future games we should resolve this weakness.”
