Mark Bridge secured Western Sydney Wanderers’ first three Champions League points on Wednesday night in Guiyang, China. A 1-0 defeat of Guizhou Renhe at the Olympic Center Stadium kept the Chinese Super League’s fourth place finisher in last place in Group H while allowing the Wanderers to slip into second place on goals scored. Ulsan Hyundai defeated Kawasaki Frontale in the group’s first match.
Western Sydney Wanderers hold off Guizhou Renhe in Champions League
The Wanderers move into second place in Group H with the win.
The game’s only (allowed) goal came when Bridge tapped in from close range at the back post. Shannon Cole’s corner was headed on target by Daniel Mullen, who made his Wanderers debut in Guiyang. The header was saved but Bridge was on hand to score what amounted to the match-winner. Labinot Haliti later had a goal called back on a close offside ruling after Cole sent him through with a lobbed through ball.
On Match Day 3, the Wanderers will return home to Pirtek Stadium to host Kawasaki Frontale, who also have three points through two matches after beating Renhe on February 26. In the interim, Western Sydney have a crucial A-League match against Adelaide United on Saturday March 15.
Scoring:
WSW Bridge 10’
Line-ups:
Western Sydney Wanderers: Tyson; Cole, Beauchamp, Heffernan, Golec, Mullen (Polenz 86’); La Rocca, Trifiro (Mooy 62’); Appiah (Hersi 58’), Haliti, Bridge
Unused substitutes: Sotirio, Manos, Fofanah, Alessi
Guizhou Renhe: Lie Zhang; Chenglin Zhang, Salley, Sun, Rao (Zijie Chen 46’), Tsan-Yuan; Li (Misimovic 46’), Jie Chen (Fan 78’), Yu, Hao Yang; Qu
Unused substitutes: Yihu Yang, Sheng, Guo, Wan
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