Players of Guangzhou Evergrande FC celebrate after the AFC Champions League round of 16 second leg match between Shandong Luneng FC and Guangzhou Evergrande FC in Jinan, capital of east China's Shandong Province, June 25, 2019. (Xinhua/Zhu Zheng)
BEIJING, China, June 25 (Xinhua) -- Guangzhou Evergrande advanced to the ACL quarterfinals after beating Shandong Luneng 6-5 in a thrilling penalty shoot-out on Tuesday.
Guangzhou Evergrande beat Shandong Luneng 2-1 in the first leg of AFC Champions League knock-out Round 1 last week.
In the second round, Brazilian midfielder Bezerra Maciel Junior (Paulinho) opened the scoring for Guangzhou in the 12th minute. Zhou Haibin equalized for Shandong in the 62nd minute of the second half. Marouane Fellaini scored in the 69th minute to help Shandong come from behind in regular time. After 180-minute games, Shandong tied Guangzhou 3-3 on aggregate.
In extra time, Liu Junshuai scored in the 93rd minute to make Shandong lead again. But Bezerra Maciel Junior's brilliant goal from outside the box tied the game 4-4.
Gao Lin failed to capitalize on a great opportunity, as his header was saved by the Shandong goalkeeper. A penalty shootout was needed to decide the winner.
Shandong Luneng midfielder Cui Peng's shot was saved by Liu Dianzuo while Zhong Yihao scored in the sixth round.
"We have tried our best, but the result is disappointing," Shandong coach Li Xiaopeng said.
