Guangzhou Evergrande coach Marcello Lippi confronts referee Mohammad Abdulla Hassan Mohamed after having a second player sent off against the Western Sydney Wanderers during their AFC Champions League quarter-final football match in Sydney on August 20, 2014. [ynet.com]

Nine-man Guangzhou Evergrande crashed 0-1 at Western Sydney Wanderers yesterday in a stormy AFC Champions League quarterfinal first leg which left its coach Marcello Lippi facing possible disciplinary action.

Antony Golec's 60-minute strike sealed an upset win for the Australian debutantes and dealt a blow to Guangzhou's title defense, which was further undermined by an explosive finish in Sydney.

After defender Zhang Linpeng and Gao Lin were both red-carded in the dying minutes, Italian World Cup-winning coach Lippi rushed on to the field to remonstrate with the referee.

"I was a bit upset," Lippi said. "I know I couldn't go on the field but there were two red cards in the final minutes.

"I know it was wrong to go on the field but at that time I just wanted to ask the referee why he chose to gave the second red card (Gao Lin) because I didn't understand why he did this."

Not only will Zhang and Gao be banned for next week's return leg in China, but the fit of pique could end in Lippi being banished to the stands if officials take action.

Wanderers coach Tony Popovic refused to reveal what was said in angry exchanges between the two sets of coaching staff.

"That's between us, but I'm sure they wouldn't be happy if I went on to berate one of their players," he said.

"We got the win at home, it's over there now and we know we have a real chance to go through and that's what we wanted after the first leg. It's half-time, we've got a slight edge and we'll give it our all."

The well-heeled defending champion began well with its two expensive Italian strikers Alessandro Diamanti and Alberto Gilardino troubling the home side.

Golec blocked a Diamanti shot in the 6th minute before the hosts came back into the game late in the first half with Shannon Cole missing a free-header on the back post. But the Wanderers were much better in the second half, taking the game to the Chinese Super League champion and after big striker Tomi Juric had a snap shot saved, Golec broke the deadlock.

Golec was allowed to advance into the box and his shot eluded goalkeeper Zeng Cheng, going in at the far post.

Lippi brought on his substitutes and Guangzhou had more of the play in the closing stages, before tempers boiled over in the last minutes.

Zhang was given a straight red card for lashing out at Wanderers Italian midfielder Iacopo La Rocca in the 89th. And one minute later, Gao was also on his way for treading on substitute Vitor Saba's face while the Brazilian was on the ground.

All hell broke loose as Lippi and his coaching staff stormed on to the field to argue with the referee, before calm was eventually restored.

It was Guangzhou's second defeat in Australia in the competition this year after going down 0-2 to Melbourne Victory in the group stage in April.

Guangzhou became the first Chinese club to win the AFC Champions League when it defeated Korean side FC Seoul on away goals in last year's final.

Yesterday's other quarterfinal first leg between Korean champions Pohang Steelers and FC Seoul ended goalless.

On Tuesday, al-Ain of the United Arab Emirates beat Saudi giant al-Ittihad 2-0 while Saudia Arabia's al-Hilal beat al-Sadd of Qatar 1-0 in their last eight first legs.

Go to Forum >>0 Comment(s)