SHANGHAI Shenhua overcame city rival SIPG in a penalty shootout in a goal-filled Chinese Football Association (CFA) Cup quarterfinal match at Hongkou Stadium on Wednesday night.

    The sides fought out an exciting 3-3 draw in normal time before the match went directly to penalties.

    Ghana striker Asamoah Gyan was on target.

    The Black Stars captain hit the back of the net in the 57th minute after finishing off a perfect pass from Wu Lei.

    The home side scored two goals inside the first 30 minutes through Moreno and Wang Yun but Shanghai SIPG pulled one back courtesy of a Wu Lei strike in the 28th minute.

    Gyan leveled the scores 12 minutes after the break with a well-composed finish but Shenhua took the lead for the second time through Demba Ba in the 70th minute.

    SIPG however fought back again as Dario Conca got in the equalizer three minutes to full time to send the game into penalties.

    SIPG striker Lu Wenjun missed his team’s fourth strike — the only miss in the 10 shots, handing victory to Shenhua.

    Currently 6th in the Chinese Super League, winning the CFA Cup seems to be the more likely route for Shenhua to clinch a spot in next year’s Asian Champions League, especially given the early cup eliminations of strong rivals Guangzhou Evergrande and Beijing Guo’an.

    “We had our supporters worried, and should have won in the 90 minutes,” said Shenhua’s French manager Francis Gillot.

    “But we conceded too many goals in the latter stages... Considering the number of chances the teams created, the victory should be Shenhua’s,” added Gillot.

    SIPG manager Sven-Goran Ericksson praised his team’s performance, describing it as an “honorable loss.”

    (SD-Agencies)