Nigerian veteran striker Obafemi Martins scored a cracker as Shanghai Shenhua stunned rivals Shanghai SIPG to win the Chinese FA Cup final on away goals 3-3 on aggregate on Sunday.

The victory means Shenhua denies Hebei China Fortune’s chance to earn the qualification to next season’s AFC Champions League.

Shenhua went into the two-legged tie as underdogs against SIPG, who have Oscar and Hulk in the squad. But Portuguese coach Andre Villas-Boas paid the price for a lack of ambition in the 1-0 first-leg defeat at Shenhua a week earlier – Martins the scorer.

The home team would start strong as in the fifteenth minute; Oscar's cross finds Lyu Wenjun who taps the ball into the far corner. 1-0 SIPG, and 1-1 on aggregate.

Both sides had half-chances and three minutes before they break a moment of controversy. Four minutes from the break, Freddy Guarin sends the cross to Cao Yunding who fires right into the back of the net. But referee said Martins has distracted Yan Junling in front of the net so the goal was ruled invalid.

On the stroke of half-time, Shenhua did score and it was Cao again, swiveling inside the box to fire the ball past Yun for 1-1 on the night and 2-1 on aggregate. Martins, once of Newcastle United and Inter Milan, looked to have won the tie when he cut in from the right and curled the ball beautifully into the top corner. But Hulk buried a penalty four minutes later, then on 76 minutes SIPG took the lead on the night 3-2 when Shenhua captain Giovanni Moreno put the ball into his own net, setting up a frenetic finale. Shenhua managed to hold on to the last minute. 3-2 for the game and 3-3 on aggregate, Shenhua reclaim the CFA title on away goals after last crown in 1998.

( Top image credit to VCG.‍ )