SIPG top as Elkeson sinks Gamba
Print Edition
A BRACE by Elkeson gave Shanghai SIPG a 2-0 victory over Gamba Osaka in their AFC Champions League match at Shanghai Stadium last night, lifting the Chinese Super League side to the top of Group G.
“We played very well and the team held a good spirit,” SIPG head coach Sven-Goran Eriksson said after the match, heaping praise on his players. “They defended well and kept positions fantastically.”
The victory put SIPG on 6 points — a 1-point advantage over Melbourne Victory, which drew 0-0 with Suwon Samsung Bluewings in an earlier match.
The opening goal in Shanghai came late in the first half. Dario Conca’s freekick found Asamoah Gyan in the box who headed in to a surprisingly unmarked Elkeson right in front of the goal mouth. A simple tap-in put the hosts 1-0 ahead.
The visitors equalized 15 minutes into the second half when Anderson Patric headed the ball into the net on a freekick.
SIPG’s decider came just a minute later when once again Conca swept in a pass, finding Elkeson in the box, whose headed goal sent the 29,000 fans at Shanghai Stadium delirious.
Incidentally, Elkeson and Conca were teammates at Asian and CSL champion Guangzhou Evergrande, which takes on Urawa Red Diamonds today.
“What more can you ask for from a striker,” Eriksson said, alluding to Elkeson’s performance. The Brazilian was named player of the match.
SIPG changed its team formation into 4-4-2 yesterday, pushing both Gyan and Elkeson on to the attacking line.
“The decision was made during training on Sunday,” said Eriksson. “The last match (against Shanghai Greenland Shenhua) on Friday we did not create a single chance in the second 45 minutes. Therefore we decided to make a change in formation, and it was successful.
“It’s necessary to show our fans that we are a good football team, but not what we were last Friday,” the Swede added.
SIPG drew with Shenhua at Shanghai Stadium 1-1 in the first derby clash of the 2016 domestic season.
The CSL will have a two- week break to make way for the national team’s World Cup Asian qualifiers.
In Melbourne, A-League champion Victory was frustrated by a disciplined Suwon defense, although the goalless draw meant it remained unbeaten in its three games so far.
“They are a very difficult team to break down, they’re so disciplined,” Victory coach Kevin Muscat said. “When you’re that disciplined and you’ve got a work ethic like Suwon have then they are difficult to break down.”
Elsewhere, big-spending Jiangsu Suning’s unconvincing Asian campaign remained stuck in second gear with a 0-0 draw away to FC Tokyo.
Asia’s record signing Alex Teixeira failed to inspire the visitors, who were missing former Chelsea midfielder Ramires following a red card in their previous outing.
The draw left Jiangsu second in Group E behind 2006 champion Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors, which beat bottom-placed Vietnamese outfit Binh Duong 2-0.
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