Sichuan Jiuniu vs Beijing Guoan Match Recap - Oct 18, 2025

Sichuan Jiuniu Stun Beijing Guoan, Spark Hope Amid Struggles with Vital Upset at Shenzhen Stadium

SHENZHEN—In a Super League campaign defined by long odds and longer shadows, Sichuan Jiuniu seized their fleeting moment of sunlight Saturday night, toppling fourth-place Beijing Guoan, 2-1, in front of a crowd that arrived expecting a routine result and departed in wonder at the power of persistence.

What unfolded at Shenzhen Stadium was not the mismatch predicted by season statistics. Jiuniu, winless in their last four matches and languishing near the bottom of the table, instead delivered a display marked by urgency, opportunism—and, for once, a finishing edge that had too often eluded them. The victory, their seventh in a season marked by hardship, lifted Jiuniu to 23 points but did little to lift them from the mire of 13th place, their record now standing at 7 wins, 2 draws, and 18 losses through 27 matches. But for the embattled club, the result carried the weight of redemption.

The drama unfurled early. In the 13th minute, Edu García—Jiuniu’s creative fulcrum—drifted into the left channel and wrong-footed his marker with a deft cut inside. His curling effort from just outside the penalty area bent tantalizingly beyond the outstretched gloves of Beijing’s Hou Sen and into the far corner. For García, whose moments of inspiration have sparkled even as the team has sputtered, it was his third crucial strike in the club’s last five matches.

If Jiuniu’s opener rattled a Beijing Guoan side with continental ambitions, the shock had not yet settled when Wesley Moraes doubled the lead in the 33rd minute. The Brazilian forward, responsible for nearly half of Jiuniu’s goals this autumn, was the quickest to react after a driven corner fizzed through a scramble in the area. Moraes, muscling through a cluster of defenders, poked home at the near post, igniting wild celebrations among the home support. His sixth goal in as many matches underscored the vital role he has played in keeping Jiuniu’s hopes alive, however slender.

For Beijing Guoan, the match marked a continuation of a worrying slide. The capital club, so often reliable for defensive solidity, conceded twice in the opening half-hour against a side that had scored more than once in just one of its previous five outings. Recent results had exposed fissures—Guoan fell heavily to Macarthur in the AFC Cup only two weeks earlier, lost at home to Shanghai SIPG, and entered Saturday with two wins in their last five. Sitting on 51 points, they remain fourth, clinging to AFC Champions League hopes but feeling the pressure of clubs below.

If the first half belonged to the hosts, the second brought the inevitable response. Zhang Yuning, Guoan’s talismanic striker, halved the deficit in the 67th minute with a precise glancing header—his 12th of the campaign—after Fábio Abreu’s clever cross charted a path past the Jiuniu back line. Suddenly, the balance shifted, with Jiuniu forced into desperate defending, booting clearances and closing ranks. The tension ratcheted up as Beijing poured forward, searching for the save that would restore order and expectation.

Yet Jiuniu, so often their own undoing, did not buckle. The defensive pairing of Zhu Zhengrong and Zhang Yufeng, faulted in recent weeks, marshaled their lines with rare composure in the closing stages. Goalkeeper Zhang Yan produced a crucial save on a late Abreu effort, sprawling to his left to preserve the advantage.

There was no late red card, nor major refereeing controversy, only the stubbornness of a team refusing—on this night at least—to be defined by its limitations. For Jiuniu, whose record against Guoan has been bleak in recent years, the upset was all the sweeter: their first league win in the fixture since promotion, and a result that will echo into the campaign’s closing weeks.

For Beijing, the defeat will demand introspection. With just four league matches remaining, the margin for error has vanished. Rivals are closing the gap; spots in next season’s continental competitions are suddenly less secure. The club’s traveling support, so accustomed to routine victory over Jiuniu, made their disappointment clear with a chorus of whistles at the final whistle—a reminder that expectations remain unwavering, regardless of venue or circumstance.

As for Jiuniu, the celebrations will linger, but the reality is inescapable: the specter of relegation persists. They remain anchored to the lower rungs of the table, yet Saturday’s victory reignites the possibility of a late-season surge. If this match serves as prologue to revival, it will be remembered as the night a beleaguered side discovered belief against the odds.

In a season of foregone conclusions, Sichuan Jiuniu proved that on the right night, with the right resolve, there is always room for one more twist in the tale.