A season-kick attempt by Bruno Fornaroli at the time of his death was not enough to save part of the score as the brave Perth Glory suffered a 2-1 defeat in the Asian Champions League against Shanghai Shenhua in Qatar.
Peng Jinli and Yu Hancho’s first-half goals at the Education City Stadium cemented Shanghai’s regular victory over their less-than-supported opponents.
But the match took a turn in the 81st minute when Jonathan Espropotamites came back in a match to return a goal for Perth at the start of Glory, who did well in the second half.
The Australian outfit hit hard for an equalizer in the dying minutes, and Fornaroli almost created a stoppage when he kicked a brilliant bicycle into the box.
The Uruguayan effort reached the target, traveling along the hopes of victory through Glory.
The result left Group F’s Perth with two losses to their name.
But new coach Richard Garcia will be proud to see the amount of first-choice talent disappearing from his side.
Returning in February, Glory entered his first ACL match with an almost 1-0 defeat to FC Tokyo.
Espropotamites, Luke Bodnar, Declan Higgs, Joshua Rawlin and Bryce Bafford were among the youngsters to join the starting line-up of five new players.
The first half was proud to pay a fine for two errors.
Shanghai was on the scoreboard just seven minutes later when a 16-year-old midfielder Rawlin’s replacement opened the scoring for Zinley.
Hanchao made it 2-0 thanks to some slashing defenses and a goalkeeping error by Tando Welfi, which allowed a close shot from the Chinese international to cross his left glove.
The air-conditioned stadium, which was completed in June this year before the start of the country’s 2022 FIFA World Cup, may have created a chilly atmosphere for the players, but anger erupted throughout the match.
Shanghai were given two yellow cards in the first half – both involved glory striker Nick de Agostino.
Wang Wei was the first person to appear in the book when his attempt with approval ended with his foot hitting D’Gostino’s jaw.
And tough Cameroon defender Stephen Mbia, who gave Fornaroli a tough time, received a yellow card in the 35th minute after D’Gostino knelt in the back.
Sydney FC are in favor of the next A-League. They will face Chinese outfit Shanghai SIPG in their Group H competition on Thursday.
