Western Sydney Wanderers eliminated defending champions Guangzhou Evergrande despite a 2-1 loss in the second leg of AFC Champions league quarterfinals in Guangzhou, south China on Wednesday.

A 2-2 aggregate score was good enough to send Wanderers through to the semifinals since the Australian club had one precious away goal.

Trailing 1-0 from the first leg, the home side fell further behind at Guangzhou Tianhe Sport Centre when Tomi Juric converted a penalty for the visitors in the 59th minute. Alessandro Diamanti pulled back a goal to keep the home side alive two minutes later and Elkson smashed the ball into the net in stooppage time but it is too late for the defending champions to come back.

"I feel very sad about the elimination. As you can see, we have united to struggle, we created a lot of chances. Our component had no chance but the penalty which they made, while we also had a penalty but missed," Guangzhou's Massimiliano Maddaloni said.

Guangzhou's head coach Marcello Lippi, however, could only watch the game from the stand. The 66-year old was banned for the match on confronting the referee in his team's first leg 1-0 away defeat to the Wanderers last Wednesday.

Guangzhou started with a 3-4-3 attacking formation, hoping to score early in the match. Alberto Gilardino nearly made the opener for the home side in the 27th minute, only to see his effort denied by the bar.

Five minutes later, Elkson came one step closer when he was gifted a penalty-kick. The Brazilian hit the ball hard to the Australian keeper Ante Covic who made the right decision to keep a clean sheet in the first half.

The home side's attack became intensive in the second half. Yu Hanchao, a substitute, saw his long range effort off the bar in the 48th minute.

The defending champions was stunned in the 57th minute when Mark Bridge was onside to ride an one-on-one against Zeng Cheng. The keeper made a contact with the Australian who fell down to the pitch afterwards. The referee pointed to the spot again, and this time, Juric screwed the ball to the left corner. The Wanderers were leading 2-0 in aggregate, while Guangzhou needed to score at least three goals to reach the semis in only 30 minutes.

Diamanti made it possible only two minutes later. The Italian duo made a good connection, Diamanti smashed the ball to the back of the net after Giladino's header.

However, it was too late for Guangzhou to find their second. Elkson, whose efforts were time and time again denied by Covic, finally sent the ball home after Feng Xiaoting' cross in stoppage time.

The Wanderers burst into dancing and crying after the final whistle. They have been the first Australian team to reach the semifinals since 2008.

"I am feeling good, I am very proud. Our team is new, we have been formed for only six weeks. The players have done their best, they are relentless, full of motivation. It is a glorious moment for us," the Australian coach Tony Popovic said.

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