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E-mail Xinhua, November 22, 2014
Jiangsu Sainty defeated Shandong Luneng 2-1 here on Saturday in the second leg of the Chinese FA Cup final, but Luneng stunned Jiangsu Sainty 5-4 on aggregate to take their Chinese FA Cup title.
Sainty heated up quickly as the game started after suffering a 4-2 away defeat two weeks ago. Antar, former player of Luneng, opened the scoring for Jiangsu at 11 minutes into the match.
It was not an option for Luneng to lose more goals. Luneng thereafter tried hard to break Sainty's solid defense, and they had more cornerkicks than Sainty, but none converted to goals.
Luneng made a substitute first at the beginning of the second half. Sainty speeded up to enlagre the lead, and Eleilson's header added another goal from a freekick at 59 minutes.
Sainty's two goals made a 4-4 draw with two away goals. If they kept the score till the end, Sainty would take their first-ever CFA Cup.
However, Sainty missed chances twice in the final minutes and Sun Ke was awarded two yellow cards to leave the court in extra timea.
"Foreign players need to be more aggressive in attacking line. I am not sure whether the foreigners will leave or not," said Gao Hongbo, head coach of Sainty.
Australian defender Ryan McGowan of Luneng saved the whole team in last minute with a header to change the score. Thus, Luneng lost the match but won the title 5-4 on aggregate.
"I should send my congratulations to Luneng as they will compete in next year's AFC Champions League on behalf of China," Gao added.
The title will also give Luneng the only one champion in four years since 2010. Luneng won CSL title in 2010. It is Luneng's fifth CFA cup as they won another four respectively in 1995, 1999, 2004 and 2006.
Luneng will take a berth in 2015 AFC Champions League (ACL) with its fifth CFA cup.
"It was a vital match; luckily, we grabbed the chance in last minute and take the ticket to ACL," noted Luneng's head coach Cuca.
When his players celebrated the title, Cuca behaved quite quietly.
"It was a demanding match involving a lot of sentiments, and it seems that I might be one year older after the match," Cuca added. Endi
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