Injured Brazilian forward Hulk sat out again as his Shanghai SIPG side drew 0-0 at home to Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors in the Asian Champions League quarter-final first leg yesterday.
The Shanghai side’s coach Sven-Goran Eriksson had hoped at the weekend that Hulk might be fit to make his comeback in the Champions League clash.
But Hulk’s name was absent from the teamsheet yesterday along with that of another key player, Argentine playmaker Dario Conca, who could be out for the season, the club said, after sustaining a knee injury in a domestic match on Friday.
Despite their missing stars, SIPG started brightly and had the better of their South Korean opponents in a match played in humid 30 Celsius temperatures at Shanghai Stadium.
The first decent chance did not fall until the 25th minute when a long ball was expertly-controlled by Chinese international forward Wu Lei whose square pass into the box fell just short of his strike partner Elkeson.
SIPG enjoyed a spell of heavy pressure towards the end as an unusually-animated Eriksson urged his charges on from the touchline.
His exhortations almost paid off when Wu Lei went close with a backwards header from inside the box two minutes from time.
“I think it was an acceptable outcome,” said Eriksson. “They had some chances, we had some chances, so it was even.
“A clean sheet at home is very important. The tie is still open and there are still possibilities for us to reach the semi-final.”

Al Ain, Lokomotiv draw
Former champions Al Ain and Uzbekistan’s Lokomotiv Tashkent will go head-to-head once again in three weeks’ time in the 2016 AFC Champions League with nothing between them after a scoreless draw in the first leg of their quarter-final clash at Hazza bin Zayed Stadium yesterday.
Neither side was able to eke out an advantage in stifling conditions in the oasis town in the United Arab Emirates’ desert meaning the return in Tashkent on September 13 will determine who advances to the semi-finals.
Now to see what happens in the return legs.

Results:
Shanghai SIPG 0-0 Jeonbuk FC
Al Ain 0-0 Lokomotiv Tashkent