CSL’s Shanghai SIPG beat A-League Sydney in AFC Champions League
- Shanghai sides win AFC Champions League openers over Australian sides with SIPG coming back to win 2-1 in Doha
- Beijing Guoan will be looking to make it three wins from three for Chinese Super League sides when they face Melbourne Victory
Shanghai SIPG followed city rivals Shenhua in beating Australian opposition in their AFC Champions League opener in Doha, Qatar.
SIPG came back from a goal down to beat Sydney FC 2-1 on Thursday afternoon, following Shenhua’s 2-1 win over A-League side Perth Glory in the first game of the restart on Wednesday.
Sydney, who won the A-League Grand Final back in August, started much the bright and could have scored before Trent Buhagiar opened the scoring in the eighth minute.
It was an emphatic finish from a Kosta Barbarouses pass after Buhagiar had nodded on a long ball from goalkeeper Tom Heward-Belle.
It was a lead that they held on to for the best part of an hour before SIPG’s Australian international midfielder was allowed too much time to pick out Li Shenglong with a cross from the right wing on 63 minutes.
Li headed home to level the scores and then he scored his third of the season, having netted in SIPG’s paly-offqualifying win over Thailand’s Buriram United back in January.