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Incredible Hulk powers SIPG to victory in Seoul
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BRAZIL forward Hulk blasted Shanghai SIPG to a 1-0 victory over FC Seoul but the big-spending Chinese giant needed to survive a penalty and a red card before winning its AFC Champions League opener last night.
Hulk’s rocket of a strike on 53 minutes got Andre Villas-Boas’s team off to a winning start in Group F, where it lies second on goal difference after Urawa Red Diamonds’ 4-0 demolition of Western Sydney Wanderers.
In Group E, Kashima Antlers beat Ulsan Hyundai 2-0 and Brisbane Roar was held to a 0-0 home draw by Thailand’s Muangthong United.
SIPG has splashed out 60 million euros (US$63.24 million) on Brazil midfielder Oscar, among other buys, in its bid for glory after reaching last year’s quarterfinals under Sweden’s Sven-Goran Eriksson.
But a speculative effort from Hulk and another shot way over the bar from the Brazilian were the closest SIPG came in a tepid first half in front of a noisy Seoul crowd.
At the other end, Dejan Damjanovic had a chance to finish off a sweeping move from the hosts but the Montenegrin striker shot tamely at goalkeeper Yan Junling from close range.
Oscar’s most significant moment of the first half came when he petulantly raised his hand to Lee Sang-ho’s throat and shoved the Seoul forward, earning a yellow card.
But the muscular Hulk brought the game to life with a moment of magic on 53 minutes, when he smashed a left-footed shot from well outside the box which swerved into the top corner.
Six minutes later Damjanovic tumbled in the box, earning a soft penalty and a second yellow card for He Guan — but the striker’s scuffed spot-kick was easily saved by Yan.
Earlier, Japan’s Red Diamonds smashed four second-half goals past the Western Sydney Wanderers to open their campaign with a thumping win.
Shinzo Koroki and Tadanari Lee struck within two minutes of each other before Tomoaki Makino and Rafael Silva also got on the scoresheet as the Group F visitors ran riot in Sydney.
The result gives Urawa an early boost in its campaign for a second ACL crown, but dents the Wanderers’ chances of emulating their fairytale title run of 2014, when the club was just two years old.
It was Lee who prised open the home defense on 56 minutes, when his perfectly placed through-ball released Koroki who finished smartly with the outside of his right boot.
Two minutes later and Urawa took a stranglehold on the game, when the Wanderers’ defenders failed to clear and stood watching each other as Lee swept home the second goal.
Urawa capitalized on yet more slack defending when Makino, unmarked on the back post, prodded home a loose ball from a corner in the 68th to make it 3-0. And four minutes from time, Brazil forward Silva was afforded plenty of space when he raced clear and beat Vedran Janjetovic on his near post from the edge of the box.
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