Breaking | Lunar New Year Cup: China’s Shandong Luneng claim win after bad-tempered final against Japan’s Sagan Tosu

There was a ding-dong New Year battle between China’s Shandong Luneng and Japan’s Sagan Tosu to cap off the Lunar New Year Cup at Hong Kong Stadium on Thursday.

The Super League side ran out convincing 3-1 winners after a pulsating and, at times, bad-tempered finale, which provided a stern test for both sides in the early stages of their respective pre-season campaigns.

As was the case on Tuesday, the crowd were pulling for Spanish star Fernando Torres, but he was somewhat overshadowed by his opposite number Graziano Pelle, who was central to most of Shandong Luneng’s best work in a clash featuring top flight sides from two of the top leagues in Asia.

The CSL outfit got off to the best possible start when Brazilian centre back Gil struck at the back post from a corner on three minutes, but the game quickly settled into a pattern of mostly one-way traffic towards the Chinese side’s final third.

However, despite having the lion’s share of the possession throughout, the Japanese side struggled to find a killer instinct in the attacking third and squandered a number of chances before former Italy international Pelle made it 2-0 to the Chinese side a few minutes into the second half.