One of his best qualities is his preparedness to run and drive at opponents in dangerous areas, either to present a threat himself or draw fouls, and he showed he was not intimidated by such highly regarded opponents with a series of driving runs down the flank.
Victory's Generation Next began this game brightly, Kenny Athiu – leading the line in a new look forward structure alongside Pierce Waring – getting into dangerous positions while Jai Ingham, another given a rare starting opportunity in this game, worked hard on the opposite flank.
On the break: Victory's Rhys Williams out-hustles Shanghai's Hu Jinghang for possession.
Photo: AAP
Ingham set up Terry Antonis, anchoring the midfield in the absence of Carl Valeri and Leigh Broxham, for a shot early on but Antonis fizzed his effort wide.
Antonis was well supported by another young midfielder who rarely sees game time in Josh Hope.
The youngster worked tirelessly and got involved in chasing, harassing and pressing opponents in the centre of the park, rarely giving his opposite numbers time to settle on the ball.
Skipper for the night Rhys Williams played Theoharous in down the left, but his cross was scrambled away as Victory looked to capitalise on their possession.
Aerial prowess: Terry Antonis heads clear for Victory during the Asian Champions League encounter against Shanghai SIPG at Melbourne Rectangular Stadium.
Photo: AAP
Shanghai, who knew they were through to the knock out phase irrespective of the outcome here, were playing well within themselves.
Victory Goalkeeper Matt Acton, another reserve given game time in this dead rubber, had little to do in the opening 23 minutes. It wasn't until the combative Hope gave a free kick away that he had to make a save, easily holding on to Elkeson's long range effort.
Theoharous had a great chance to open the scoring shortly after when Athiu found him with a well weighted pass but the winger pulled his shot wide of goalkeeper Sun Le's far post.
Elkeson then tried his luck from long range again with a shot Acton held at the second attempt.
Pace setter: Thomas Deng of Victory takes possession against Chen Binbin of Shanghai.
Shanghai had rarely threatened, but Williams had to move smartly to tidy up at the back and deny Chen Bin Bin a chance.
Hope went into the referee's notebook for a foul on Lin Chuangyi, an illustration of his preparedness to mix it up in the midfield trenches.
Victory took a deserved lead five minutes before the break after Athiu's run down the left allowed him to play in a cross for Waring, the striker getting there just in time to steer the ball wide of Sun via a deflection from a defender.
Shanghai got level just on half time with a well worked goal by Lin. Elkeson played the ball from midfield out to captain Lyu Wenjun, the forward accelerating into the Victory penalty area before cutting the ball back for Lin to finish from inside the box.
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Athiu had an excellent chance to restore Victory's lead just after the hour mark when the ball came through to him with just Sun to beat, but he snatched at his shot and it blazed over the bar.
But Kevin Muscat's men got their noses back in front with 23 minutes remaining, Ingham getting free on the far post to meet Terry Antonis excellent cross with a looping header that dipped under the bar on the opposite side of the goal, giving Sun no chance.
It was a sweet moment for Ingham, who scored his first goal for Victory two years ago against the same opponents in another ACL group phase game.
Elkeson's Brazilian international team-mate Hulk, on as a second half substitute, showed his pace and power as he burst through the Victory rearguard to get a shot off which Acton did well to beat away as the Chinese Super League leaders stepped up a gear in the hunt for a second leveller.
Hulk seemed intent on single handedly finding an equaliser, forcing his way past opponents, dribbling into space and firing shots whenever the chance presented itself.
Birkan Kirdar came off the bench with three minutes remaining to make his debut, becoming Victory's youngest ever player at 16 years and 70 days. It was a night that he, and all of his young team-mates, will probably never forget.
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Michael Lynch, The Age's expert on soccer, has had extensive experience of high level journalism in the UK and Australia. Michael has covered the Socceroos through Asia, Europe and South America in their past three World Cup campaigns. He has also reported on Grands Prix and top class motor sport from Asia and Europe. He has won several national media awards for both sports and industry journalism.
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