Shanghai Shenhua lifted the Chinese FA Cup at the Shanghai Stadium last night after beating Shanghai SIPG on away goals.
Going into the game 1-0 up after Obafemi Martins had given them the advantage at Hongkou Stadium last week, Shenhua lost 3-2, but away goals from Cao Yunding and Obafemi Martins gave them the edge and ensured Wu Jingui's side booked a spot in the group phase of next year's Asian Champions League.
SIPG's goals came from Lu Wenjun, Hulk and an own goal from Giovanni Moreno.
Despite being underdogs, Shenhua, who lifted their first trophy in 19 years, were the better side over the two legs, and SIPG boss Andre Villas-Boas refused to discuss his future as coach after seeing his side lose to their bitter cross-city rivals. Having promised the chairman silverware at the beginning of the season, and failing to deliver, the assumption is that he will not be with the club next year.
SIPG have spent more than GBP134 million on foreign players over the last two years, breaking the Asian transfer record with the GBP60 million signing of Oscar from Chelsea in January, soon after Villas-Boas replaced Sven-Goran Eriksson at the helm.
The deal for the Brazil international eclipsed that of his team-mate, and fellow Brazilian, Hulk, who joined SIPG from Zenit St Petersburg in June 2016 for a then record GBP47 million.
Meanwhile, Shenhua's big money signing Carlos Tevez returned to Argentina overnight after learning he had been left out of their squad for the second leg.
"I have to say Tevez has always been crucial to the team since his arrival here, and he helped a lot in games too," said Shenhua boss Wu Jingui, who replaced Gus Poyet as coach in September.
"It must have been a big hit to his confidence and pride when he knew that he was not in the roster of Chinese FA Cup final."
Wu had previously said he would not play Tevez as he was too fat.
Drama all round, which should make for an interesting off-season. In the meantime, here is last night's action:
A big congratulations to Shenhua. The city is blue.
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