Dong Tam Long An denied by Li"s late winner at AFC Champions League

Ten-man Vietnamese champions Dong Tam Long An slipped their 2-1 lead to a 3-2 defeat to Shandong Luneng from China with Li Jinyu scoring a late winner in their second game in Long An on April 25.

Dong Tam Long An took a 2-1 lead after 36 minutes with goals by Kabanga Tshamala and Nguyen Viet Thang. However, the send-off of Nguyen Hoang Thuong just before half-time made them pay the price.  

Li scored two goals in the second half, on 49 and 90 minutes, respectively to deny the Vietnamese champions. Earlier, on 26 minutes, Wang Yongpo scored the first equaliser for the Chinese visitors.

The match was disrupted late in the second half by a floodlight failure and resumed after about five minutes.

The defeat left Dong Tam Long An empty-handed after four games in Group D.

Dong Tam Long An, who were outplayed in their 4-0 defeat to Shandong Luneng in China two weeks ago, delighted their fans by taking the lead with a spectacular strike by Kabanga after 14 minutes.

Receiving the ball from Viet Thang with his back to goal 25 metres out, Kabanga spun and fired past goalkeeper Li Leilei into the top right corner, opening the scoring.

Shandong Luneng returned to level terms 15 minutes later, when Wang curled an exquisite shot just inside the right post after with a 25 metre freekick, after being brought down by Hoang Thuong.

Dong Tam restored their lead on 36 minutes when Viet Thang picked up the ball in midfield and burst clear, outpacing two Shandong defenders before sliding a low shot past Li into the bottom left corner.

The Vietnamese side suffered a big blow three minutes before the break when Cui Peng went down in the Dong Tam box under challenge from Hoang Thuong. The referee awarded the Chinese team a penalty and sent off the Dong Tam player for his second bookable offence.

Zivkovic took the spot kick, beating goalkeeper Fabio Dos Santos but shooting off the right post.

After the break, Shandong Luneng, with the man advantage, started strongly and four minutes into the second half, they levelled. Zivkovic made up for his penalty miss by providing an excellent cross from the left that was headed past Santos by an onrushing Li.

The Chinese team dominated the game but were unable to find a way past goalkeeper Santos. The floodlights at the Long An stadium went out with seven minutes remaining, prompting a five-minute delay.

When game resumed, it appeared that the Vietnamese champions would hold on for their first point of the AFC Champions League until Li”s dramatic late intervention helped Shandong Luneng to preserve their perfect record.

Nhan dan