Shanghai SIPG and Urawa Red Diamonds advanced to the quarterfinals of the Asian Champions League on Wednesday, Urawa in a match which featured a pitch confrontation between players at the end of extra time at Saitama, Japan.
Shanghai SIPG and Urawa Red Diamonds advanced to the quarterfinals of the Asian Champions League on Wednesday, Urawa in a match which ended with a pitch confrontation between players at the end of extra time.
The 2007 ACL champions beat South Korea’s Jeju United 3-0 at home to scrape through to the next stage 3-2 on aggregate, but tempers flared as the Red Diamonds attempted to hold possession in the last minutes and the visiting players objected.
Jeju’s Baek Dong-gyu, an unused substitute, sprinted off the bench to interfere with an Urawa player and received a red card.
At the final whistle more players became involved in the confrontation and some Jeju players chased Urawa players off the pitch. The Asian Football Confederation said on its website that the substituted Kweon Hang-jin was also given a red card at the end of the match.
Shinzo Koroki and Tadanari Lee scored for Urawa, which lost the opening leg 2-0, to force extra time. Ryota Moriwaki scored the decider in the 114th minute.
In all-Chinese encounter, Shanghai beat Jiangsu Suning 3-2 to advance 5-3 on aggregate.
Hulk, the Brazilian forward signed for $60 million in 2016, scored the winning goal for Shanghai.
Elkeson and Yang Xiaotian also scored for Shanghai, which is coached by former Chelsea and Tottenham manager Andre Villas-Boas.
Urawa was one of four former continental champions to reach the quarterfinals stage. Other champions progressing were Chinese giant Guangzhou Evergrande, despite finishing the group stage with a loss to Kashima, Al Ain and Al Hilal. Shanghai, Persepolis of Iran, Al Ahli and Kawasaki Frontale also advanced.
