GUANGZHOU, July 15 (Xinhua) -- Guangzhou FC drew 1-1 with Henan Songshanlongmen in the fifth round of the Chinese Super League (CSL) which restarted here on Thursday after a two-month break since May 17.
The Guangzhou side dominated the first half of the match as Ai Kesen had multiple goal-scoring opportunities. The naturalized Chinese international broke the deadlock in the 44th minute, when he scored a follow-up after his first strike was blocked by Henan's defender.
In the 49th minute, Henan left back Niu Ziyi cut inside from left wing and curled the ball into the net, but his goal was disallowed by VAR due to a foul in the build-up.
Five minutes later, Henan was awarded a penalty thanks to Zhang Linpeng's handball foul in the penalty area, and Henrique Dourado slotted home to tie the match 1-1. Henan was close to another goal in the 73rd minute, but Yang Guoyuan's left-footed shot hit the crossbar.
In stoppage time, Guangzhou midfield Liao Lisheng was sent off the pitch with a second yellow card and he will miss Guangzhou's next round match on Sunday.
"We had many opportunities in the first half, but we lost rhythm in the second half. We need to prepare for the next match immediately. It will be a very hard month for us all," said Ai Kesen.
The CSL has a very tight schedule as each team needs to play nine to 10 matches from July 15 to August 12 to give way for the 2022 World Cup Asian qualifiers which are scheduled to kick off on September 2. Enditem
