Oscar is set to face Western Sydney Wanderers in Campbelltown after he made a goalscoring impact on his competitive Shanghai SIPG debut.
Tuesday night’s (AEDT) play-off win sees Oscar and Andre Villas-Boas’ Shanghai SIPG join the Wanderers, as well as FC Seoul and Urawa Red Diamonds in the 2017 ACL group stage.
Shanghai spent a reported €61 million ($89 million) to sign the Brazil international from Chelsea, and the midfielder went some way to repaying part of that fee by helping his new side qualify for the ACL group stages.The 25-year-old was on target in his maiden outing last month, a 2-1 friendly victory over Al Batin, and he opened the scoring at Shanghai Stadium on Tuesday night.
Odil Akhmedov surged forward on the break and picked out Oscar, who guided a cool finish into the bottom-left corner from the right-hand side of the box in the 34th minute.
Villas-Boas’ team doubled their advantage before half-time. Wu Lei was unable to get a shot away from Hulk’s cross, but the loose ball was brilliantly back-heeled home by Elkeson.
Elkeson was denied a sensational second after the restart when his mid-air flick was batted away by Pairot Eiam-mak in the Sukhothai goal, while Oscar’s rabona chip moments later crossed the line but was ruled out for a foul on the keeper.
Shanghai got their third when, after seeing a header tipped over the bar, Elkeson’s dragged shot was turned into the net by Sukhothai defender Kiattisak Toopkhuntod.
Oscar was replaced by Yu Hai 10 minutes from time and with victory secured.
Shanghai will host Western Sydney on 28 February, in both respective clubs’ second ACL group stage clash.
The Wanderers will then play Shanghai at Campbelltown Stadium in the final Group F fixture on 10 May.
This article was originally published at: http://www.a-league.com.au/article/western-sydney-wanderers-to-face-ex-chelsea-star-oscar-in-acl/9yoke3e1iuwz14ima3a4dooa3
