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. AFC Champions League: Covid-19 casts shadow over restart Sydney were left to rue their wasteful finishing in the first half when Li struck again with another header on 79 minutes. The striker stooped to meet from substitute Yu Hai’s cross from the left and leave Heward-Belle with no chance as it cannoned in off the post. Sydney goalkeeper Heward-Belle’s day went from bad to worse when he was sent off for handling the ball outside his area in injury time. Shanghai Shenhua make winning ACL return against Perth Glory The A-League side now have one point from three games, two of which were played before the Covid-19 pause, while SIPG move on to three points and second place. They face K-League champions Jeonbuk Hyundai in the next game on Sunday.