Korea Republic's Gangwon acquitted themselves well in the opening minutes and even had the ball in the net but Vitor Gabriel was ruled to have been in an offside position.

Shenhua, on the back of six winless matches in the Chinese Super League, found the going tough with Gangwon going close again in the 24th minute from a Goo Bon-cheul knockdown that was only slightly behind Gabriel, who was in prime position to finish.

Gangwon threatened again a minute before the break from Hong Chul’s free-kick that had the power and curl but just did not come down in time to trouble Bao Yaxiong in Shenhua’s goal and the Korea Republic side’s inability to convert came back to haunt them.

Against the run of play, Shenhua took the lead when Gao Tianyi played Joao Teixeira into space on the left in first half added time, with the Portuguese midfielder cutting in before smashing an unstoppable shot past Lee Gwang-yeon.