Guangzhou Evergrande secured a place in the AFC Champions League quarter-finals on Tuesday night thanks to a penalty shoot-out, despite losing 3-2 to Shandong Luneng in the last of 16 second leg game at Jinan Olympic Sports Center in East China's Shandong Province. 

Having won the first leg 2-1, the aggregate score of 4-4 set up a dramatic climax for Evergrande, with the visitors eventually winning 6-5 on penalties. 

Evergrande's Paulinho first slotted the ball into an open goal at the 13^th minute after Luneng's goalkeeper Wang Dalei fell to tackle Yang Liyu.

In the second half, Luneng launched a storm-like attack, and Zhou Haibin and Marouane Fellaini scored at the 63^rd minute and 70^th minute respectively.

With the aggregate score at 3-3, the game went into 30 minutes of extra time.

Within three minutes, Luneng's Liu Junshuai scored a third goal for his team. A Paulinho free kick at the 103rd minute however deadened Luneng's hopes of qualifying.

Under AFC Champions League rules, extra time goals are not included in the away goals rule, meaning the game had to go to penalties to decide a winner. 

The first 10 players stepped up to the plate and scored, but Luneng's Cui Peng then lost a one-on-one chance and Evergrande's Zhong Yihao sealed the victory with a 6-5 penalty win.

Earlier on Tuesday, Sanfrecce Hiroshima defeated Kashima Antlers 3-2 in a Japanese derby, but also saw its AFC Champions League journey end, based on the away goals rule, after finishing 3-3 on aggregate.

(Cover: Guangzhou Evergrande players celebrate the last penalty scored, Jinan Olympic Sports Center, Shandong Province, east China, June 25, 2019. /VCG Photo)