The sides went into the match having twice met in the 2019 group stage, playing out entertaining 3-3 and 2-2 draws, and it was the Australian champions who went into the interval a goal to the good having taken an early lead through Trent Buhagiar.

Vitor Pereira's team fought back after the restart, though, as Li Shenglong proved the hero, bagging a pair of headers to seal a 2-1 victory to ensure the Chinese Super League side picked up all three points and condemned Sydney to two defeats in three Group H matches.

The striker scored a pair of second half headers to overturn a 1-0 half-time deficit, giving Vitor Pereira’s side a winning start to their belated Group H campaign, and putting them on track for their fifth consecutive knockout stage appearance.

Trent Buhagiar put the Australian side ahead early on before Li Shenglong scored with two headers 16 minutes apart in the second half to earn Shanghai SIPG their first three points of the campaign.

With his side winning their group opener, Pereira acknowledged that the Australian side had gotten the better of them early on, but physical readiness ultimately drew the winning hand, with Shanghai SIPG rising to second place having played a game less than Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors and Yokohama F. Marinos.

Having not seen any competitive action since winning the A-League Grand Final at the end of August, the New South Wales side got off to the perfect start when Trent Buhagiar opened the scoring inside 10 minutes as they went into the interval a goal to the good.

But Shanghai fought back in the second half as a Li Shenglong brace ultimately secured the Chinese Super League side a 2-1 win, with Grant also having to play in goal for the final few minutes after Thomas Heward-Belle was dismissed for handling outside the box.

Shanghai SIPG were coming into their campaign opener against an FC Sydney side they had played twice and drew on both occasions last term, while Steve Corica’s men had collected one point from two games in the competition and were in desperate need for a victory to stay in contention.

With two wins in their first two AFC Champions League matches in February, Yokohama F. Marinos seemed set for another title-contending season.

However, things have not gone to plan for the 2019 J1 League winners. The defence of their domestic championship has fizzled out and the team is some way out of contention for the 2021 AFC Champions League places as the season draws to a close.

The Australian side, who qualified for the group phase by defeating 2018 champions Kashima Antlers in the playoffs, have already played twice in Group E, kicking off their campaign with a 1-0 win over Chiangrai United before slipping to a narrow loss at the hands of FC Seoul.