Dalian Shide went down 4-2 to Al Ain in the first-leg semifinals of the AFC Champions League in an ill-tempered match marred by controversial refereeing.

　　THE UAE side was controversially awarded a penalty in the second half after Bahrain's referee pulled Ji Mingyi for fouling a rival forward.

　　Shide players argued with the referee and were stunned as the official gave the marching orders to Shide goal-keeper An Qi and a yellow card to Li Yao for arguing. Boubacar Sanogo fired in the penalty after substitute goalie Yu Ziqian replaced An under the bars to level the match.

　　Shide was leading on an early strike by veteran striker Hao Haidong who again gave his side a well-deserved lead.

　　Hao, voted AFC Player of the Month for March on Tuesday, headed in Bulgarian Zoran Jankovic's corner kick in the 17th minute to silence the home crowd.

　　But the game took an ugly turn in the second half after An was sent off. Shide suddenly seemed to lose heart as Al Ain scored three goals in a flash leading to more disputes and arguments.

　　Mohammed Omar tapped in the second soon after the equalizer which Dalian players argued to be offside.

　　Dalian coach Milorad Kosanovic argued with linesman and officials and was also asked to leave the pitch.

　　With Dalian's defense now in disarray, Rami Yas scored the third and Sanogo blasted in the fourth to fulfill their French coach Bruno Metsu's wish.

　　"We need to make the most of home advantage to build a platform, which means we need to score to keep our hopes alive over the two legs," the coach said prior to the game.

　　But Dalian quickly recouped themselves and breathed some lifesintosthe game with some runssintosthe rival territory. Li Yao volleyed in Dalian's second to give his side some ray of hope to take on the Emirates club in the return leg on April 23.

　　In the other semifinal in Bangkok, Thailand's BEC-Tero Sasana tamed Uzbekistan's Pakhtakor 3-1.