Luneng cruise to AFC Champions League after beating Hanoi in play-off

Chinese Super League (CSL) side Shandong Luneng FC have progressed to the group stage at the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Champions League as the club beat Hanoi FC 4-1 at Jinan Olympic Sports Center in Jinan, east China's Shandong Province, on Tuesday.

The victory means Shandong Luneng, along with CSL clubs Guangzhou Evergrande, Beijing Guoan, and Shanghai SIPG, have earned their tickets at the new season of the AFC Champions League.

Players of Shandong Luneng celebrate with fans after a 4-1 win over Hanoi FC in the AFC Champions League play-off match in Jinan on Feb 20, 2019. [Photo: IC]

The first goal of the match was scored by Nguyen Van Quyet for Hanoi FC at the 39th minute.

But Shandong Luneng showed its prowess after two substitutions to replace Wu Xinghan with Liu Junshuai, and Cui Peng with Liu Binbin respectively in the second half.

Both proved to be the coach's wise choices as Liu Junshuai scored at the 65th minute and Liu Binbin at the 86th minute.

Shandong Luneng's Italian striker Graziano Pellè added another goal in-between and Zhou Haibin secured their victory by making it 4-1 in the end.

Their performances have echoed with the confidence of Coach Li Xiaopeng, who said before the match that his team would "advance to the AFC Champions League group stage with the toughest game attitude."