China's Guangzhou Evergrande have clawed their way back into the AFC Champions League with a superb 5-3 victory over South Korea's Jeju United at home in a Group G game on Tuesday. 

After losing their first match of the new CSL season 5-4 to Guangzhou R&F, under fire Fabio Cannavaro, the Italian coach of the two-time AFC Champions League champions from China, was hoping a change of competition would bring about a change of fortunes for his side in Guangzhou, capital of south China’s Guangdong province.

But Guangzhou soon found themselves behind when Jin Sung-wook and Magno Cruz gave Jeju a two-goal lead within the first 29 minutes. Unfazed by the early blitzkrieg from their rivals, the home side, however, gathered momentum with relentless attacks and hit the bar twice towards the end of the first-half. Guangzhou’s pressure eventually paid off as Alan Carvalho reduced the margin four minutes into injury time before the break.

The second half saw a buoyed Guangzhou leveling the score with the much-needed equalizer from Ricardo Goulart and it was the Brazilian striker who scored his second to clinch the lead for the hosts in the 57th minute after his teammate Gao Lin was fouled and earned a penalty for his team. 

A goal-hungry Goulart accomplished his hat-trick in the 86th minutes before scoring his fabulous fourth with a spectacular chip to seal the game, two minutes into injury time. Just before the final whistle was blown, Lee Chang-min reduced the margin for his side but that didn’t stop the Chinese team from registering a much-deserved 5-3 victory to catapult themselves to the top of Group G and bringing an end to their recent losing streak.

The win left Guangzhou, despite their struggle in their opening two games of the campaign, one point clear of Buriram United from Thailand, who registered a surprise 2-0 win over Japan's Cerezo Osaka.

Meanwhile, another Chinese side in the league, Tianjin Quanjian, despite taking a lead in the 10th minute, were overpowered by their South Korean rivals Jeonbuk Motors as Paulo Sousa’s side crashed to a 6-3 defeat against the two-time champions.