Shanghai SIPG striker Elkeson (R) tries to score past Melbourne Victory goalkeeper Danny Vukovic during their Champions League group stage match. (Photo : Getty Images)
Last season's Chinese Super League runners-up Shanghai SIPG nipped K League Classic counterparts Suwon Samsung Bluewings, 2-1, in a 2016 AFC Champions League group stage match held at the Shanghai Stadium in Shanghai, China on Wednesday, March 2nd.
The win was the Red Eagles' first in the said tournament after they dropped their group stage opener to A-League club Melbourne Victory, 1-2, last Feb. 24 at the Melbourne Rectangular Stadium in Melbourne, Australia.
With a 1-1-0 win-loss-draw record and three points under its belt, Shanghai is currently at the second spot of the Group G table behind Melbourne, who had drawn their match with Gamba Osaka also on Wednesday, pacing the bracket with four points, as per Fox Sports Asia.
The game started shaky as the feeling out process for both squads began with Suwon actually coming close to getting the early lead when midfielder Kim Jong-woo struck a short range shot into the legs of Shanghai goalkeeper Yan Junling.
Former Guangzhou Evergrande striker Elkeson drew first blood in the 32nd minute of the contest, getting a long pass from fellow striker Wu Lei then beating Blue Wing defender Yeon Jei-min for a one-on-one against Suwon goalie No Dong-geon which the Brazilian won handily.
The hosts increased their one-point first half lead as they scored a second goal, this time from Wu, at the 52nd minute following a magnificent passing play between Elkeson, Wu, and another Shanghai forward, Lu Wenjun.
However, the Blue-White-Red Corps did not fold, scoring a goal at the 72nd minute to pull within one, via a brilliant pass by Suwon team captain Yeom Ki-hun to defender Yang Sang-min, who executed a precise cross to substitute 23-year-old winger, Jang Hyun-soo, for the center box strike.
Suwon tried to get the draw in the final minutes of the match, but Sven-Göran Eriksson's boys were able to fend off all attacks from the South Koreans to take the win and three points in the standings.
The Red Eagles will next face last season's J1 League runners-up, Japan's Gamba Osaka, on March 15 at their home stadium in Shanghai.
Prized striker Asamoah Gyan may still be unavailable against Gamba as the 30-year-old Ghana international is still nursing a strained thigh he suffered during Shanghai's loss to Melbourne in their opener, as reported by Ghana Web.
