Shandong Luneng produced one of their best performance of the season on Tuesday as they survived the sending off of left-back Liu Yang to win an astonishing Chinese Football Association (CFA) Cup semi-final with Shanghai SIPG. 

On a night of stirring drama at the Shanghai Stadium, the 24-year-old Liu looked to have pressed the self-destruct button on the visitors' hopes of cup glory when he saw red for a wild kick to the head of Marko Arnautovic. 

But despite a numerical disadvantage, Li Xiaopeng's side were simply magnificent for the rest of the game, building on Marouane Fellaini's first-half goal and sealing a spot in the final with a late clincher from Zhang Chi after the interval.

The build-up to this tie was dominated by talk of refereeing controversies in previous clashes but Liu simply gave New Zealand referee Matthew Conger no choice but to dismiss him in first-half stoppage-time after a lengthy VAR review. 

Several Luneng players were disgusted by the decision, with both Graziano Pelle and Wang Dalei being cautioned due to their angry confrontation with Conger. Fortunately, Li Xiaopeng made them listen to reason at half-time and his men regained composure soon after as Zhang struck a dagger blow.

For Luneng, setting up a date with Shanghai Shenhua, who edged out Dalian Yifang in the other semifinal on Monday, came at a huge cost, with Liu's red card and a yellow for Liu Junshuai ruling both players out of the final. 

But they will worry about that later after celebrating arguably the greatest result under Li and one which may finally reinvigorate their lackluster season.