Latest sports scores at — http://sports.arabtimesonline.com SIPG into semis on dramatic night
Al Hilal eliminate Al Ain
GUANGZHOU, Sept 12, (AFP): Shanghai SIPG survived an almighty scare to sneak into the semifinals of the AFC Champions League 5-4 on penalties and break Guangzhou Evergrande hearts on Tuesday.
Midfielder Yu Hai was the hero for Andre Villas-Boas’s side, holding his nerve to bury the decisive spot-kick and SIPG will face either of the Japanese teams Kawasaki Frontale or Urawa Reds in the last four.
It was a thrilling game of high drama between the top two teams in the Chinese Super League (CSL).
Hosts Evergrande won 5-1 on the night in extra time, the quarter-final tie ending 5-5 on aggregate.
The Brazilian Ricardo Goulart scored a hat-trick for Evergrande, forcing extra time with his second and then rescuing the game at 5-5 on 118 minutes.
But it was he who missed Evergrande’s penalty in the shootout, hitting the post, leaving him in tears afterwards as the SIPG players and staff celebrated on the pitch.
The battered visitors SIPG played most of extra time with 10 men after Wang Jiajie was booked for a second time and they finished the game with nine men.
The Brazilian bruiser Hulk stepped up on 110 minutes to slam the ball into the net with a blockbuster of a freekick and make it a scarcely believable 5-4 on aggregate.
Al Hilal’s defender Yasir Al Sahrani (left), vies for the ball with Al Ain’s Caio during their AFC Asian Champions League Group C football match at the King Fahad Stadium
in Riyadh on Sept 11. (AFP)
But just when SIPG thought they were going through, the Brazilian Muriqui was felled in the box, Wang Shenchao was sent off and Goulart buried the penalty with two minutes left on the clock for 5-5 on aggregate, his hat-trick and penalties.
The 28-year-old winger Alan was chief tormentor in the first half of normal time, punishing some slapstick SIPG defending to give Evergrande a glimmer of hope on 21 minutes when he rounded Yan Junling, who was a bundle of nerves throughout.
It was just a taste of the drama to come.
On 35 minutes the Brazilian was at it again, darting in to head home and make it 2-0 on the night, 4-2 to SIPG on aggregate.
It was game on and Evergrande, odds-on to retain their CSL title with SIPG a distant second, and their manager Luiz Felipe Scolari went into the break smelling blood.
Villas-Boas had seen enough and made two changes at half time.
The Portuguese, who like Scolari is a former Chelsea manager, raged on the sidelines as Evergrande pushed for a third.
Goulart stooped to make it 4-3 on aggregate with seven minutes left and then headed home again in the first minute of injury time to drag the game into extra time.
It is a first Champions League semifinal for Shanghai SIPG in their short history.
Carlos Eduardo struck a fine hattrick as Saudi Arabia’s Al Hilal stormed into the semifinals of the Asian Champions League with a 3-0 rout of UAE’s Al Ain.
Victory at the King Fahd International Stadium in Riyadh gave the reigning Saudi champions and continental runners-up in 2014 a 3-0 aggregate win following their goalless draw in the first leg last month.
The Brazilian gave Al Hilal a 2-0 cushion within a span of five minutes towards the end of the first half and then completed his hat-trick in the second period to round off an excellent evening for the Saudi giants.
He first found the net with a header from an assist by Uruguayan Nicolas Milesi in the 42nd minute following a free-kick much to the joy of the home crowd.
The duo combined again for Al Hilal’s second goal, Carlos Eduardo chesting down a long pass from Milesi and volleying past Al Ain goalkeeper Khalid Essa.
Al Ain, the 2003 winners, were boosted by the return of their inspirational midfielder Omar Abdulrahman after he missed the UAE’s World Cup
Shanghai SIPG’s Akhmedov Odil (left), fights for the ball with Guangzhou Evergrande’s Xu Xin during their AFC Champions League quarter-final football match in Guangzhou in China’s southern Guangdong province on Sept 12. Shanghai SIPG survived an almighty scare to sneak into the semifinals of the
AFC Champions League 5-4 on penalties and break Guangzhou Evergrande hearts on Sept 12. (AFP)
qualifiers against Iraq and Saudi Arabia because of an ankle injury.
But Omar and his brother Mohamed couldn’t make much of an impression as Al Hilal controlled the game nicely and came up with several scoring opportunities.
Most of the chances fell to Carlos Eduardo with Syrian World Cup star Omar Kharbin also going close on a couple of occasions.
The Brazilian completed his treble in the 74th minute with a right-footed shot from the centre of the box following a through pass from Salem alDawsari.
Al Hilal will be now hoping to win the tournament for the first time since its rebranding in 2003. They won its precursor, the Asian Cup, twice in 1991 and 2000.
They came close in 2014 when they lost the final 1-0 on aggregate against Western Sydney Wanderers.