Guangzhou Evergrande's midfielder Paulinho celebrates his goal during the AFC Champions League match against Kashima Antlers in Kashima, Ibaraki prefecture yesterday.
Kashima, Japan: Ex-Tottenham Hotspur midfielder Paulinho grabbed a crucial goal as two-time winners Guangzhou Evergrande squeaked past Kashima Antlers on away goals yesterday to reach the AFC Champions League quarter-finals.
Paulinho, the scorer in last week's 1-0 win in Guangzhou, scored a tap-in on 55 minutes and it was enough to put the Chinese team through despite their 2-1 defeat on the night.
The result was cruel for Kashima, who went ahead through Pedro Junior's superb strike in the first half and scored again via Mu Kanazaki in injury time for an aggregate score of 2-2.
But it was a major step forward for Luiz Felipe Scolari's Chinese league-leaders, who lifted the Asian title in 2013 and 2015 but exited last year's competition at the group stage.
In yesterday's other last-16 tie in Japan, Kawasaki Frontale beat Thailand's Muangthong United 4-1 to complete a 7-2 aggregate win and reach the quarter-finals at a canter.
Kashima's game was much closer and they had the best early chances when Pedro Junior was denied by Feng Xiaoting's last-ditch block, and Yuma Suzuki fired just wide.
Pedro Junior showed skill and tenacity to open the scoring on 28 minutes, when he brushed off two challenges and launched a brilliant shot into the top corner.
Evergrande nearly hit back when Liu Jian's full-stretch volley rebounded off the post, but the most enterprising attacking play remained at the other end.
Pedro Junior skilfully lifted a ball to his fellow Brazilian Leandro, whose volley went straight at the goalkeeper, before Shoma Doi bundled a close-range half-volley over the bar.
The hosts looked comfortable but Evergrande seized back the initiative on 55 minutes when Wang Shangyuan's long throw-in was flicked on by Gao Lin.
Alan's wriggling turn-and-shot came off the near post and bounced across the face of the goal, leaving Paulinho with a simple finish to make it 2-1 on aggregate.
Kanazaki, who came on for Leandro on the hour-mark, crashed a shot in off the bar in stoppage time but Kashima had run out of time to make a comeback.
