JINAN ¨C China international Zheng Zhi netted a hat-trick as Shandong Luneng came from behind twice to defeat Beijing Hyundai 3-2 on Sunday and advance to the semi-finals of the China Super League Cup.
The two sides went into the second leg on level terms after Beijing came from two goals down to force a 2-2 draw in the opening encounter of their quarter-final tie on June 5.
It was the capital side that got off to a good start this time as Branko Jelic put the visitors ahead at the Shandong Sports Centre after only eight minutes, a goal that was cancelled out on the stroke of half-time by a penalty converted by spot-kick specialist Zheng Zhi.
Beijing restored their lead on 59 minutes as Xu Yunlong found the net after a scramble in the Shandong box, but the home side hit back quickly just two minutes later, Li Jinyu receiving a long pass from Predrag Pazin before setting up Zheng for his second goal of the match.
The Shandong playmaker would round off a brilliant individual performance on 70 minutes as he completed his hat-trick with a superbly struck free kick from the edge of the Beijing box to send the holders through to the last four.
Zheng scored three penalties in China¡¯s run to the Asian Cup final last year and his five goals during Shandong¡¯s AFC Champions League Group F campaign has been a key factor in their progress to the last eight of Asia¡¯s premier club competition.
It also proved to be a good night for China¡¯s other AFC Champions League representatives Shenzhen Jianlibao as they won their fourth match in a row under caretaker coach Guo Ruilong with a 3-2 victory against Liaoning.
Having trounced Liaoning 4-1 in the first leg the previous week, the China Super League champions extended their advantage through Xue Shen after 20 minutes before Lu Bofei and Huang Fengtao struck early in the second half to put the tie well beyond Liaoning.
The visitors got late goals by Chen Xin and Yang Xu but it merely cut the final aggregate deficit to 7-3.
Wuhan Huanghelou completed a remarkable comeback against Qingdao Zhongneg as they recovered from a 4-1 first-leg deficit, winning 4-0 at home to progress 5-4 on aggregate.
Shanghai Shenhua went through after defeating Chongqing Qiche 2-1 for a 4-1 aggregate triumph.
China Super League Cup
Quarter-finals second leg
Shandong Luneng 3 Beijing Hyundai 2
(Shandong win 5-4 on aggregate)
Wuhan Huanghelou 4 Qingdao Zhongneng 0
(Wuhan win 5-4)
Shanghai Shenhua 2 Chongqing Qiche 1
(Shanghai win 4-1)
Shenzhen Jianlibao 3 Liaoning 2
(Shenzhen win 7-3)
Semi-final fixtures (October 9 and 16)
Shandong Luneng v Wuhan Huanghelou
Shenzhen Jianlibao v Shanghai Shenhua
