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AFC CHAMPIONS LEAGUE: China, Japan, Australia off to winning starts

"It went to the script really well ... we really had to win that game, and I thought the boys were outstanding."

Ernie Merrick, Melbourne Victory coach

Teams from Japan, Australia and China stormed to winning starts in the opening group games of the AFC Champions League on Wednesday, but there was heartbreak for Southeast Asian hopes.

J-League champions Kashima Antlers throttled Thailand's Krung Thai Bank 9-1 in Bangkok, while China's Changchun Yatai scored a narrow 2-1 home victory over leading Vietnamese side Binh Duong.

Second-half goals from Yan Xiangchuang, Du Wenhui and Zhang Shuai ensured China's other team in Asia's top club competition, Beijing Guoan, romped to a comfortable 3-1 win over Vietnam's Nam Dinh in Hanoi.

In Australia, Melbourne Victory launched their first Champions League campaign with a 2-0 victory over of South Korea's Chunnam Dragons.

Central defenders Kevin Muscat and Rody Vargas scored the goals in each half in Victory's first competitive match since mid-January.

Captain and former Socceroo defender Muscat scored with a penalty in the 29th minute, meaning the former Glasgow Rangers and Millwall hardman has never missed from the spot in his three-year Victory career.

The second goal came in the 64th minute, with Vargas heading home a cross from new signing Billy Celeski.

"It went to the script really well," Victory coach Ernie Merrick said.

"It was how we wanted to play and under a lot of pressure because we really had to win that game, and I thought the boys were outstanding," he said.

It was a stellar night for Australia, with Adelaide United blazing to an upset 2-0 win over the K-League champions Pohang Steelers in South Korea, with goals from Robert Cornthwaite and Bruce Djite.

The victory came despite Adelaide playing for much of the game with 10 men after Gyawe Salley was sent off on the stroke of half-time.

In Bangkok, Krung Thai Bank were out of their depth against the Kashima Antlers.

They are only in the competition because Indonesian sides were barred over the late completion of their league and cup competitions, and it showed.

Yuzo Tashiro, Marquinhos and Takuya Nozawa all scored twice for the Antlers as they made an emphatic statement of their intent, buoyed by Urawa Reds becoming the first ever Japanese team to win the title last year.

They join the competition at the knockout stage.

"It is a big advantage to win 9-1, but only one team from the group will advance to the next round, so it's important to win like this in the following game as well," Kashima's Brazilian coach Oswaldo Oliveira said.

It was a lucky escape for Japan's other Champions League side, Gamba Osaka, who needed an injury-time equalizer from Brazilian striker Lucas to rescue a 1-1 draw against Thai champions Chonburi.

A Chinese team has never won the Champions League, but Changchun made a solid start with defender Cui Wei netting a second-half winner to give them three points against Binh Duong.

Du Zhenyu fired the home side ahead with a well-executed free-kick after only four minutes. But the visitors equalised eight minutes into the second half when a defensive mix-up allowed Nguyen Anh Duc to slide the ball home.

Stunned, Changchun pressed forward in search of a winner and were rewarded in the 70th minute when Cui turned the ball into the net from the edge of the six-yard box.

Among the eight other matches played later on Wednesday, two-time champions Al Ittihad of Saudi Arabia beat Uzbekistan's Kuruvchi 1-0 while the legendary Ali Daei led Iran's Saipa in their 1-1 draw against Al Kuwait.

Kuwait took the lead after an opportunistic strike by Khaled Ajab just before the break. He outpaced two Iranian defenders to the ball before slotting his left-foot effort past goalkeeper Rahman Ahmadi.

The Iran Pro League winners had to wait until the 66th minute before pulling themselves level when Ebrahim Sadeghisenjani rolled a free kick into the path of Milad Zanipour and he lashed his shot home from 25 yards out.

Kuwait had to play the final 10 minutes with 10 men when defender Yaqoub Al Taher was sent off for a second bookable offense but they managed to hold on to earn a point.
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