SHANGHAI — 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 quarterfinal first leg Tuesday.
The powerfully-built attacker played just 21 minutes of football before being injured on his debut on July 11 after a high-profile 55 million euros ($61 million) transfer from Zenit St Petersburg.
The Shanghai side's coach, former England manager 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 Tuesday 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 Friday.
Despite their missing stars, SIPG started brightly and had the better of its South Korean opponent 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.
Just two minutes later the Brazilian front man, who won the Asian Champions League last season with Guangzhou Evergrande, had the 33,000-strong crowd screaming for a penalty when he fell at the edge of Jeonbuk's box.
However, Australian referee Benjamin Williams gave a free-kick outside the 18-yard area which Elkeson blasted straight against the wall.
In the 37th minute, Jeonbuk's Brazilian forward Leonardo hit the post with a curling effort from outside the box.
A whipping free-kick from Lu Wenjun almost put SIPG ahead but Jeonbuk goalkeeper Kwoun Sun-tae pushed the effort wide in the 54th minute.
SIPG enjoyed a spell of heavy pressure toward 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.
The second leg is on Sept. 13 in Jeonju, South Korea.
Al-Ain 0, Lokomotiv Tashkent 0
Former champion 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 all to play for after a scoreless draw in the first leg of their quarterfinal clash in Al-Ain Tuesday.
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 will determine who advances to the semifinals.
The home club, champion in 2003, went closest to breaking the deadlock nine minutes from time when Zlatko Dalic’s side threatened to capitalize on Server Djeparov’s mistake deep in the Al-Ain half, but despite breaking at pace Danilo Asprilla saw his effort saved at point blank range by Ignatiy Nesterov.
That was one of only a smattering of chances in a game that was heavily influenced by the conditions, with temperatures hitting in excess of 40 degrees centigrade.
