Football: Auckland City FC push mega-rich Shandong Luneng to limit in Chinese New Year Cup

Auckland City's Dylan Manickum in action. Photo / Photosport

Auckland City FC will play off for third place in the Chinese New Year Cup on Thursday, after a so-near-yet-so-far scenario against Shandong Luneng Taishan FC.

The ISPS Handa Premiership frontrunners pushed their highly rated opposition to the limit in Hong Kong, going ahead early in the second half before eventually succumbing 2-1, with the winner scored in the 88th minute.

The Chinese Super League club was always going to be a prohibitive test.

Shandong have a squad valued at almost $100 million, including Italian international striker Graziano Pelle and former Brazilian representative Gil, and they recently signed Marouane Fellaini from Manchester United for a reported £10.5 million ($19.7 million).

Their budget and financial muscle is light years away from the semi-professional outfit based in Sandringham, but that gulf in resources wasn't particularly evident for much of the match, especially in the first half.

"I thought it was another credible performance against top class opponents," said Auckland City coach Ramon Tribulietx. "We competed well against players that cost 20M Euros in some cases and we've tested them.

"It's not the result we wanted and we're disappointed with the goals we conceded. When [we] scored I thought we were in with a good chance although it came very early in the second half. I was quite happy with the situation we got ourselves into but it wasn't meant to be."

Micah Lea'alafa opened the scoring in the 47th minute, capitalising on a Shandong error to take Auckland into the lead.

Shandong began to click soon after that, with Brazilian midfielder Roger Guedes particularly influencial for the five-time Chinese champions.

The former Palmeiras player equalised with a well struck free kick in the 57th minute, then grabbed the winner when a shot from distance was parried into his path by Auckland City goalkeeper Enaut Zubikarai.

"It was a game where we played really good football and we dominated the first half although we didn't have too much penetration in their third," said Tribulietx

"We started the second half with Micah Lea'alafa's goal but it was very unfortunate to lose a game like that. We lost the game with two mistakes.

"There were moments in the second half where we dominated and created chances but it's disappointing to lose the game on those two actions."

Thursday's game is against a Hong Kong XI, who lost on penalties to J-League team Sagan Tosu (who have former Liverpool striker Fernando Torres in their ranks) after the scores were 1-1 at 90 minutes.

The composite side features the best players from across the Hong Kong league and includes seven Brazilians.

It will be Auckland City's third match in the space of six days, after they faced Canterbury United in Christchurch last Saturday, before making the long journey to Asia.