Adelaide United have been tossed out of the Asian Champions League by China’s Shandon Luneng, who banked a 2-1 victory in Tuesday night’s playoff game in Adelaide.

Adelaide conceded two first-half goals and star Marcelo Carrusca missed a penalty in the second stanza, before Sergio Cirio offered a glimmer of hope with an 89th-minute header.

But the impressive Chinese outfit held on to advance to the group stage of the lucrative tournament after scoring twice in 22 minutes.

• Adelaide downs Newcastle Jets in 1-0 A-League win
• FFA’s show-cause to Wanderers over flares
• Carl Valeri sidelined for rest of A-League season

Shandong struck in the 17th minute when Yang Xu headed into an open goal – Adelaide goalkeeper Eugene Galekovic was still grounded after a superb diving save defied a Walter Montillo strike, only for the rebound to fall kindly to an unmarked Xu.

And in the 39th minute, Brazilian-born attacker Diego Tardelli rewarded the visitors for top-shelf lead-up work with another.

Shandong expertly sliced through Adelaide’s defensive barrier and a shrewd cross from Wang Yongpo found Tardelli, who sweetly angled a header past Galekovic.

United produced few chances in the first half but came close in the 14th minute when, after a goal-mouth scramble, a Ryan McGowan dribbler was cleared from the goal-line.

United chased the game hard in the second half against Shandong, who sat back and understandably tired – this was just their second competitive outing in what is their preseason, and they’d come from minus-four degree temperatures at home to play in balmy 30-degree Adelaide heat.

But the Reds, despite repeated chances, were frustrated until Cirio, facing away from goal, deflected a header over Shandong’s keeper Wang Dalei a minute before injury time.

Late drama followed: Adelaide’s Sergio van Dijk and Cirio could have pinched an equaliser in extra time – the former sprayed a close-range header wide, then the latter headed straight into Wang’s gloves.

The frantic finale followed Carrusca slamming a penalty into the crossbar in the 83rd minute, coming after Shandong playmaker Yongpo was sent off for a second yellow card 15 minutes earlier.

But the Reds ultimately couldn’t convert their advantages – numerical, territorial and possession – into another goal, much to the disappointment of their parochial 8487-strong home crowd.

-AAP