This week's Chinese FA Cup quarter finals saw all three Shanghai teams progress to the semi final, meaning the city is guaranteed at least one team in the final, and the mouth-watering possibility of a Shanghai Derby FA Cup Final.
The big upset came at Jinshian Football Stadium, where, having drawn the first leg 2-2 in Nanjing, second tier Shanghai Shenxin dumped Chinese Super League big-spenders Jiangsu Suning out with a 2-1 win, both goals coming from Brazilian Biro Biro. Jiangsu's goal came from Ji Xiang. It is a result that will further put pressure on Jiangsu's World Cup winning coach Fabio Capello.
Shenxin will meet city rivals Shanghai Shenhua in the semi final, who saw out a 0-0 draw with Shandong Luneng at the Hongkou Football Stadium, having won the first leg 3-0 away from home.
Shanghai SIPG completed the unlikely Shanghai semi finalists hatrick on Thursday night. They were tasked with reversing a 3-0 drubbing by Tianjin Quanjian in the first leg, but pulled it off at the Shanghai Stadium with a 4-0 win. Goals came from Oscar, Zheng Zhiyun and a brace from the Hulk.
SIPG will take on Guangzhou Evergrande in the other semi after they overturned a 4-2 first leg defeat to city rivals Guangzhou R&F with a 7-2 victory at the Tianhe Stadium, making it a ridiculous 9-6 on aggregate. Evergrande's goals came from Muriqui (2), Alan (2), Yu Hanchao, Gao Lin and Zhang Chenglin, R&F's from Renatinho and Zahavi.
R&F also had Chen Zhizhao dismissed for a second yellow card in the 42nd minute, with the tie poised at 5-5. The result also means Guangzhou Evergrande will play trophy-chasing rivals Shanghai SIPG six times this season, after their CSL meetings and upcoming two-legged AFC Champions League quarter final.
Those two-legged semi finals will take place as follows:
Aug 15-16-17 TBC, Shanghai Shenhua vs Shanghai Shenxin, Hongkou Football Stadium
Sep 19-20-21 TBC Shanghai Shenxin vs Shanghai Shenhua, Jinshian Football Stadium
Aug 15-16-17 TBC, Shanghai SIPG vs Guangzhou Evergrande, Shanghai Stadium
Sep 19-20-21 TBC Guangzhou Evergrande vs Shanghai SIPG, Tianhe Stadium
[Cover image via china.com]
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