Shandong Luneng coach Mano Menezes admits his side should have put their opponents out of the contest much earlier, despite a 2-1 AFC Champions League play-off win over Adelaide United.
First-half goals from Shandong’s Yang Xu and Diego Tardelli ultimately rendered Sergio Cirio’s late header inconsequential, as the visitors secured their passage into Group F of the Asian Champions League.
Shandong were largely cruising after taking a two goal lead, but the Chinese outfit were reduced to 10 men and were almost made to rue their profligacy in front of goal, when a late, albeit vain, surge from the Reds nearly found an equaliser.
Speaking in the post-match press conference, Menezes said he was nervous about how close Adelaide came to drawing level and felt the score line should have been greater.
“First of all I want to say it’s a good game. We played at our level and also our opponents played with quality,” Menezes said.
“You know it’s a difficult game for both sides and my players suffered too much.
“Our opponents [Adelaide] became more aggressive and put more pressure to our defensive line.
“In the second-half we should have scored maybe two or three more goals and finished the game maybe 3-0 or 4-0… so I became a little bit serious.”
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Menezes also revealed he was impressed with the Reds’ footballing philosophy and several players during the tempestuous affair.
“For me Adelaide is a good team and they have a great style and the whole level is very high and also their individual players also play well,” Menezes continued.
Shandong will enter Group F containing Sanfrecce Hiroshima (Japan), FC Seoul (Korea) and Buriram United (Thailand) and kick-off their campaign away to Sanfrecce on 23 February.
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