Two-goal Pelle rues missed opportunities
6th March 2019
Changwon: Italian striker Graziano Pelle has bemoaned Shandong Luneng’s missed chances after their entertaining 2-2 draw with Korea Republic’s Gyeongnam FC in their opening 2019 AFC Champions League Group E fixture at Changwon Football Center on Tuesday.
The former Southampton striker, making his first appearance in the competition since the 2016 quarter-finals, was the hero for his side as goals in either half earned a valuable point on the road for the Chinese Super League team.
But having taken a first-half lead, Pelle was disappointed Shandong couldn’t stay in the ascendancy and come away with all three points, especially after they spurned a number of late chances.
“We have to handle the game better, especially when we are winning,” said the 33-year-old.
“We have to keep the ball more instead of panicking, [but] it comes with experience. But the AFC Champions League [group stage] is short, so we have to do better than today with the draw.”
Gyeongnam were making their first ever appearance in the competition, but it was the visitors who were celebrating early on when Pelle headed home just after the 20-minute mark.View this post on Instagram
First game Asian Champions League ... 2-2 in Korea . Happy with the 2 goals but not really with the draw. I am sure at the next game we’ll get the 3 points . ??⚽️????? keep fighting
A post shared by Graziano Pellè (@gpelle19_official) on Mar 5, 2019 at 6:52am PST
Two goals in the space of eight second-half minutes swung the pendulum Gyeongnam’s way, but the Italian swivelled and finished from close in with 13 minutes to play to salvage a point.
Pelle had chances to seal his hat-trick late in the game, but was denied by some last-ditch defending from last season’s K League 1 runners-up.
Group E: Gyeongnam FC vs Shandong Luneng FC
“It was a tough game,” added Pelle. “[In the] first half we were leading and we expected that Gyeongnam would come back.
“We showed good organisation to get back to 2-2. Unfortunately we had some other chances [that we couldn’t score]. It was a nice game to watch for the fans but we are unhappy that we didn’t win.”
Shandong return to Jinan to host defending champions Kashima Antlers – who defeated Malaysia's Johor Darul Ta'zim 2-1 in the day's other Group E fixture – next Tuesday, while Gyeongnam will travel to Johor to face JDT.
Source: the-afc.com