Shanghai Shenhua made a successful start to their 2020 AFC Champions League Group F campaign, seeing off Australia's Perth Glory with a 2-1 win at Education City Stadium in Qatar on Wednesday.
Head coach Choi Kang-hee had anticipated difficulties for his injury-hit squad but they shrugged off the absence of Giovanni Moreno and Kim Shin-wook, ending a 15-match winless streak in the competition.
Peng Xinli opened the scoring with a low shot after just seven minutes and a mistake from Perth goalkeeper Tando Velaphi allowed Yu Hanchao to add a second eight minutes before the break.
Jonathan Aspropotamitis got one back for Perth later on but the A-League team, still pointless after two games with the first defeat coming against FC Tokyo in February, is rooted to the bottom of Group F.
Shanghai Shenhua will continue their Group F bid against Ulsan Hyundai on Saturday, with Perth to face the Korean side three days later.
Sydney FC faces Shanghai SIPG in Group H on Thursday before the competition picks up at the weekend with a further four matches.
Group games are due to be played until Dec. 4, with the knockout rounds starting two days later.
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