End the three-game losing streak! The defense is worrisome, and even Beijing Guoan’s win is startling.

Special Contributor / Song Ci After nearly a month of waiting, Guoan finally won again. On the night of September 26, in the 26th round of the Chinese Super League, Beijing Guoan beat Dalian Yingbo 4-2 at home, stopping their three consecutive league defeats. Yet, the victory was hard-fought; despite leading 3-0, they allowed the opponent to score twice in one minute, exposing a shockingly weak defense.

After Guoan’s last home loss to Shanghai Port, foreign player Fabio sat alone in a corner of the players’ tunnel, covering his face and crying. This scene was later shared online, and everyone who saw Fabio’s heartbreaking expression could deeply feel his pain and frustration. Indeed, as the team’s cheerful spirit, Fabio rarely showed sorrow, but after the previous match, Guoan’s championship hopes for the season were nearly shattered, and so was Fabio’s heart.

During the league break in June, Football News once interviewed Fabio. When discussing his personal season goals, Fabio admitted he hoped to score 20 goals. At that time, he said his career-best season tally was 18 goals and aimed to break that record this year. In the 26th round of the CSL, Fabio scored a hat-trick, raising his season total to 21 goals and achieving his 20-goal target four rounds early.

【Related Reading ↓ Fabio: If we don’t win the title, I won’t leave】

This was Fabio’s third hat-trick in the Chinese Super League. Currently, he trails Shandong Taishan’s Kazaishvili by one goal on the top scorer chart; notably, Kazaishvili scored four goals against Guoan. Fabio still has a chance to compete for the golden boot. However, after breaking his personal record, Fabio remained modest, stating he prefers the team to win more games, regardless of whether he scores or not.

Zhang Xizhe started this match and his performance definitely deserved the title of key player. It was this veteran’s excellent play upfront that finally helped Guoan produce smooth attacking moves again.

Guoan’s gameplay was not very smooth in this match; they only broke the deadlock in the 29th minute. Fabio’s first goal owed much to Zhang Xizhe’s clever pass in the attacking third, which drew the Dalian defenders’ attention. Zhang’s skillful pass also demonstrated his outstanding individual technique.

In the 53rd minute, Zhang Xizhe delivered a brilliant assist to Fabio. Their seamless one-two combination inside the box tore apart Dalian’s defense, making fans wonder if the team would have performed better had Zhang played more often as an attacking midfielder. Later, Zhang scored a goal, but after VAR review, it was disallowed because he stepped on an opponent’s foot during the attacking build-up.

After the match, when asked by the media about Zhang Xizhe’s performance, coach Setién said Zhang has always been an important player for the team. He evaluates everyone’s performance daily to decide the starting lineup. Every player is always ready to play; sometimes they get more minutes, sometimes less, depending on his plan.

Since the 0-6 defeat to Shandong Taishan on August 31, Guoan has conceded 15 goals in five consecutive games. Such defensive performance is clearly not what a title-contending team should show.

In the match against Dalian Yingbo, after scoring the third goal, coach Setién showed a rare smile, standing up from the bench to high-five his staff. Unfortunately, moments later, Dalian scored twice within one minute. The score remained 3-2 for 25 minutes, during which Dalian also had good chances but failed to convert. Only when Fabio scored his third goal did Guoan fans finally breathe a sigh of relief.

Dalian Yingbo had 14 shots in this match, just one less than Guoan. After the game, when asked about the two goals conceded, coach Setién said both were avoidable mistakes. He explained: “The first goal came from two rebounds, the opponent seized the chance. It’s hard to comment on such a goal; we were just unlucky. The second goal was unacceptable — we lost possession in midfield, and they launched a brilliant counterattack before we could get back into position.”

In fact, Dalian Yingbo’s attacking strength ranks among the weaker teams in the CSL. Their goal tally is only slightly higher than relegation-threatened Changchun Yatai and Qingdao Hainiu, and even lower than bottom-placed Meizhou Hakka. Despite this, Guoan’s defense still conceded two goals, yet Setién attributed one of the goals purely to bad luck. It’s unclear if the Guoan coach truly recognizes the team’s defensive issues.

After this round, with four league matches remaining, although Chengdu dropped points, Shanghai Port safely secured three points. Guoan trails the leader by six points and is three points behind third-placed Shanghai Shenhua, making the chances of winning the league increasingly slim.