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Shenzhen stun Al Ahli to book semi-final ticket
And with just nine of these 84 minutes having elapsed Shenzhen struck for a second time when their charismatic captain Li Yi latched on to a defence splitting pass to lift the ball over the advancing Al Bsisi, putting the home side into the driving seat with a 3-2 aggregate lead. Al Ahli were by no means out of the competition and in the 20th minute pulled a goal back thanks to a stunning free-kick from captain Hussain Sulaimani which curled around the wall and past a lethargic Li Leilei, who really should have done better as the Shenzhen keeper’s positioning appeared to be spot on. Yang Chen looked to have restored Shenzhen’s two-goal cushion seven minutes before a thoroughly entertaining first half came to an end when he stabbed home the six-yard box after Al Bsisi spilled the ball under pressure from Li Yi. However, Korean referee Kwon Jong-chul adjudged that Li had kicked the ball out of the keeper’s hands, disallowed the goal and yellow carded the striker. It was Shenzhen’s second yellow card of the half following the18th minute booking of Li Weifeng, which rules him out of the semi-final after his name was previously taken in the last minute of the first leg. The blistering start of the first half was repeated in the second but this time it was Al Ahli that almost forced the early goal when, in the 49th minute, Talal Al Meshal’s superb turn set up a scoring opportunity but the Saudi striker dragged his shot wide. After a period of Shenzhen pressure Al Ahli again came close to scoring when
Saleh Al Mohammadi collected a quick throw out from Al Bsisi surged deep into
Shenzhen territory and fed the ball to Al Meshal but the 27-year-old’s 61st
minute shot was well saved by Li Leilei.
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