Another starry performance lights Oscar night in Shanghai
Brazilian maintains lethal scoring form to deny South Korean side
Oscar scored twice to salvage a 2-2 draw for Shanghai SIPG at home to Ulsan Hyundai in the Asian Champions League on Wednesday as the Brazilian maintained his prolific start to the new season.
Asia’s record signing found his magic touch when it mattered with a goal in each half to preserve Vitor Pereira’s unbeaten start as coach after taking over from Andre VillasBoas.
Former Chelsea playmaker Oscar had buried a hat-trick on the weekend as SIPG opened its Chinese Super League campaign with a record 8-0 thrashing of newly promoted Dalian Yifang.
The 26-year-old Oscar, who is hoping to make Brazil’s squad for this summer’s World Cup finals, twice equalized for SIPG after Richard Windbichler and Kim In-sung netted for the South Koreans.
Windbichler put his side in front in the 37th minute but Oscar replied with a low, longrange strike into the bottom corner less than a minute later.
Two minutes after Kim restored Ulsan’s advantage, Oscar curled his second into the top corner from the edge of the area to keep Shanghai on top of Group F with seven points from three games.
“I’m quite satisfied with the performance today, even though the result wasn’t ideal,” said SIPG coach Pereira.
“The players have shown great fighting spirit and mentality. We hit the bar three times.
“This is football. You might have a great process but have a less-than-ideal result.”
Ulsan is second in the group with Melbourne Victory in third after Leroy George’s late penalty earned the Australian side a 2-2 draw with Kawasaki Frontale, which twice took the lead only to be pegged back.
Elsinho gave the Japanese champion the lead before Besart Berisha knotted the score on a header, only for Kyohei Noborizato to restore Kawasaki’s lead with a tap-in.
George equalized from the penalty spot two minutes into injury time as Melbourne picked up its second point of the competition.
Shanghai Shenhua had Giovanni Moreno to thank for salvaging a 1-1 draw with the Suwon Bluewings in Group H as the Colombian struck from the penalty spot after the twotime continental champion took the lead through Lee Ki-je.
The draw kept both teams in touch with leaders Kashima Antlers, who moved on to seven points after a 2-0 win over Sydney FC.
Goals from Shoma Doi and Naomichi Ueda gave the Japanese side the win to leave Graham Arnold’s Sydney sitting bottom of the group with just one point from three games.
Qatar’s Al Duhail maintained its perfect start as Group B leader with a 3-2 win over Lokomotiv Tashkent from Uzbekistan to remain three points clear of Iran’s Zob Ahan, which defeated Al Wahda of the United Arab Emirates 2-0.
Former winners Al Ain of the UAE needed a last-minute penalty from Ahmad Khalil to draw 2-2 with Iran’s Esteghlal in Group D.
Al Ain, the 2003 champion and 2016 runner-up, is third in the group, tied with Qatar’s Al Rayyan, which drew 1-1 with last year’s beaten finalist Al Hilal from Saudi Arabia.