2013 AFC Champions League - Matchday 4 Roundup

Matchday 4 of the AFC Champions League had its usual share of thrills, spills and upsets. Here is the roundup of all the action from across the continent.

Group A

Qatar’s Al-Jaish player Karim Ziani (L) challenges Brazilian player Ricardo De Oliveira (R) of UAE’s Al-Jazira club

Qatar’s Al Jaish drew 1-1 away to Al Jazira, thus extending the UAE club’s winless run. Sultan Bargash opened the scoring in the 25th minute only for Adriano Martins to level the scores eight minutes later.

Saudi club Al Shabab became the first club to qualify for the knockout stages after Sebastian Tagliabue’s 85th minute goal against Iran’s Tractorsazi.

Group B

Al Ettifaq bagged the first three points of their Asian campaign on Tuesday when a double by Saleh Basheer and a goal each by Yahya al Shehri and Yousef al Salem gave them a thumping 4-1 win over UAE’s Al-Shabab.

Sebastian Soria scored his fourth CL goal to give Lekhwiya the lead at Pakhtakor but Gulom Urunov equalised midway through the first half. Pakhtakor then got in front after a Dame Traore own goal only for Youssef Msakni to strike for Lekhwiya to make the score 2-2 and ensure that Lekhwiya stay on top of Group B.

Group C

Goals from Lawrence, Nene and Fuhaid al Shammari put Qatari side Al-Gharafa just one win away from the knockout stages after they convincingly beat Al Nasr 3-1 at home. Al Nasr have lost all four of their games so far and thus become the first side to be knocked out of contention for the knockout stage spots.

A double by teenage star Mustafa Bessas helped 2012 runners-up Al Ahli to the knockout stages after a 4-1 home thrashing of Iranian side Sepahan. After Bruno Cesar followed up Bessas with a penalty, Sepahan’s Dalovic reduced the deficit in the 81st minute, only for Bader al Khamees to restore the three goal lead for Al Ahli in injury time.

Group D

Al Hilal took revenge on Iranian giants Esteghlal with a tense 1-0 win away at Tehran’s Azadi Stadium. Nawaf al-Abed scored the lone goal in the first half. Esteghlal had earlier defeated Hilal in Riyadh but failed to come up with a similar performance on their home turf.

Al Rayyan got their first win of this year’s ACL with a 2-1 victory at home over 2003 champions Al-Ain. Former Brazil international Nilmar gave the lead to Rayyan with a well-taken goal before Yousef Ahmed equalised for Al Ain with a header. However, Rayyan had the last laugh as their striker Jarallah al-Marri poked the ball over the line with three minutes remaining to give them the much-needed win.

Group E

Atsushi Yanagisawa scored the lone goal as Japan’s Vegalta Sendai won their first-ever AFC Champions League game with a 1-0 victory over FC Seoul at the Sendai Stadium. With the win, Sendai rise up to second place while FC Seoul still top the group.

Thai team Buriram United won their first match of the campaign as goals from Suchao Nutnum and Charyl Chappuis gave them a 2-0 victory at home to Jiangsu Sainty of China.

Group F

Goals from Daisuke Nasu and Tsukasa Umesaki helped 2007 champions Urawa Reds race to 2-0 lead within seven minutes at Jeonbuk Hyundai’s home ground only for the home team to come back and grab a point through an Eninho wonder goal and a 92nd minute strike by Seo Sangmin.

Muangthong United, Thailand’s other representative, suffered a 1-4 thrashing at home to big-spending Guangzhou Evergrande. Evergrande’s Muriqui scored twice before Sarawut Masuk got on the scoresheet for Muangthong. Zheng Zhi and Feng Xiaoting then put the result beyond doubt with two more goals for the Chinese side.

Group G

Fozil Musaev’s 32nd minute goal gave Bunyodkor a 1-0 victory over Beijing Guoan at the Workers’ Stadium as the Uzbek side moved clear at the top of Group G.

Sanfrecce Hiroshima broke their losing streak and earned their first point of the 2013 ACL after drawing 1-1 at Pohang Steelers. Naoki Ishihara took the lead for Sanfrecce in the 62nd minute but Hwang Jin-Sung levelled matters for Pohang just five minutes later.

Group H

In Guiyang, Mitchell Duke scored from the penalty spot in the first half to give Central Coast Mariners what seemed to be the only goal of the match. But that illusion did not last until the final whistle as Guizhou Renhe hit back in the final six minutes with two goals to stun their Australian opposition, with Zlatan Muslimovic and Qu Bo breaking the Mariners’ hearts.

A fourth win of the 2013 ACL would have given Kashiwa Reysol a spot in the knockout stages but that didn’t work out as planned as they were held to a goalless draw at home against Suwon Bluewings.