SIPG, Shenhua reach quarters
Print Edition
BOTH Shanghai teams advanced to the last eight of the China FA Cup yesterday, though Shanghai SIPG had to go through a 17-round penalty shootout to eliminate its third-tier league opponent Suzhou Dongwu in neighboring Jiangsu Province.
Shanghai Greenland Shenhua edged long-term rival Beijing Guo’an 1-0 at Hongkou Football Stadium in a late match last night. Fredy Guarin scored in the 52nd minute on an assist from under-fire Argentina striker Carlos Tevez.
Caretaker Xie Feng was in charge of Beijing yesterday even though the club has named Roger Schmidt as its new manager. But the German’s duties officially start from July 1.
Gus Poyet’s starting line-up included Tevez, Giovanni Moreno and Guarin. After a goalless first half, Guarin seized the best chance the hosts created early after the break, scoring on a front field pass from Tevez.
Tevez then had a glorious one-on-one chance against Beijing goalie Yang Zhi in the 67th after dribbling past two defenders, but Yang blocked the shot with his leg. Beijing’s Du Mingyang hit the Shenhua goal bar before the final whistle.
It was Shenhua’s first victory in seven matches since May 5 and it will take on fellow Chinese Super League side Shandong Luneng in the quarterfinal. Lying 10th in the 16-team CSL standing, Shenhua is looking to win the CFA Cup to sneak into next year’s AFC Champions League.
“Luck was not on our side today,” Beijing’s Turkish striker Burak Yilmaz said later. “We created more opportunities than our opponent. The team was also affected by the delayed flight arrival in Shanghai.”
In Suzhou, Andre Villas-Boas decided to give his foreign players a rest and sent a full Chinese squad against their China League 2 opponent.
However, it was Suzhou that scored before the break and surprisingly kept the lead until the fag end of regulation. Suzhou was even a man down in the latter part of the second half when Shen Hao received a second yellow card in the 77th. SIPG Wu Lei came to SIPG’s rescue, scoring the equalizer in the 93rd.
During the shootout, the two sides made no mistake in the first five rounds, but both missed the sixth and seventh shots. The score was tied at 8-8 (7-7 in penalty) after nine rounds. The two goalies took on each other in the 10th round and both managed to score.
The tie was broken in the 17th round. SIPG goalie Yan Junling blocked the attempt by Xiao Kun to fix the final score at 16-15 and keep SIPG alive. SIPG will take on Fabio Cannavaro’s Tianjin Quanjian in the quarterfinal.
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