Brazil internationals Hulk and Oscar helped Shanghai SIPG overcome Guangzhou Evergrande in a dramatic Asian Champions League quarterfinal that finished in a penalty shootout on Tuesday.
Shanghai was leading 4-0 from the first leg, but lost the second leg 5-1 to Luiz Felipe Scolari’s Guangzhou – before then going on to win the shootout 5-4 at Guangzhou’s Tianhe Stadium.
Shanghai, which finished extra time with nine men, will next play a Japanese opponent in the semifinals, either Urawa Reds or Kawasaki Frontale.
Guangzhou, the 2013 and 2015 continental champion, pulled two goals back in the first half thanks to Brazilian midfielder Alan Junior. Ricardo Goulart then added two more in the final seven minutes of normal time to make it all square on aggregate.
Seven minutes into extra time, Shanghai substitute Wang Jiajie was shown a second yellow card. However, the setback did not prevent his team from taking the lead over two legs in the 110th, when Hulk fired home a free-kick.
With three minutes remaining, Shanghai’s Wang Shenchao was sent off for a challenge in the area and Goulart completed his hat trick by scoring the resulting penalty – lining up the shootout.
