Evergrande reach Asia’s last eight

BEIJING: Zhong Yihao netted the decisive spot-kick as Chinese giants Guangzhou Evergrande reached the Asian Champions League quarterfinals after a nerve-shredding penalty shoot-out against Shandong Luneng on Tuesday.

Brazil international Paulinho scored twice as the second leg ended 4-4 on aggregate after extra time, but it was Zhong who struck the killer blow as Evergrande shaded their Chinese rivals 6-5 on penalties.

Earlier, in Hiroshima, Shoma Doi scored in each half as Kashima lost 3-2 on the night but finished 3-3 on aggregate, going through with their two away goals which followed last week’s 1-0 win at home.

The title-holders came under sustained pressure before Doi gave them the lead against the run of play when he pounced on a weak defensive header 12 minutes before half-time. Sanfrecce got a lifeline when Tomoya Inukai headed into his own net on 63 minutes, before Sho Sasaki smashed a second goal for the home side at the near post. But at 2-1 on the night and with the aggregate scores level, Sanfrecce goalkeeper Hirotsugu got himself sent off when he rushed out and brought down Doi near centre circle.