Japan's Gamba Osaka and Iranian giants Saipa secured their places in the AFC Champions League quarter-finals on Wednesday, as Adelaide, Kashima Antlers and Beijing Guoan all inched closer.
But it was curtains for South Korean hopes, two-time ACL champions Al Ittihad of Saudi Arabia and last year’s finalists Sepahan.
Gamba Osaka needed only a draw to progress, but earned a hard-fought 2-0 win in Bangkok against Chonburi with second-half goals from substitute Masato Yamazaki and Lucas ensuring their berth in the last eight.
PHOTO: AP
Saipa booked their place with a 1-0 win over Kuwait Sports Club which ensured top spot in Group B. Kianoush Rahmati’s long range effort in the 24th minute was enough to claim all three points to put them into the knockout rounds alongside defending champions Urawa Reds, who qualified automatically.
Later Al Wasl beat Al Quwa Al Jawiya 2-1 thanks to second-half goals by Mohamed Salem Al Enazi and Alexandre Oliveira to catapult them from last to second in the group.
A moment of individual brilliance from Brazilian Diego clinched Adelaide a crucial 1-0 win over Pohang Steelers to keep them atop Group E with one match to play and end the South Korean side’s campaign.
Chinese champions Changchun Yatai trail Adelaide by two points after a convincing 5-0 thrashing of Vietnam’s Binh Duong, with the Chinese side hosting the Australians in a do-or-die clash on May 21.
Adelaide are attempting to become Australia’s first team to reach the last eight and Diego was their hero, breaking the deadlock with a 63rd-minute volley.
Changchun asserted their authority early against Binh Duong with Wang Bo heading in after only two minutes and Ivory Coast striker Guillaume Dah Zadi adding a second with a slick finish in the 13th minute. Chen Lei volleyed home to make it 3-0 at the break, before the Chinese side put the game away in the second half with a Yan Feng free-kick and a penalty converted by skipper Samuel Caballero.
Kashima Antlers continued their march with an 8-1 hammering of Krung Thai Bank but Beijing Guoan kept up the pressure with a 3-0 win over Vietnamese side Nam Dinh.
It left both teams on 12 points in Group F, although Kashima have a far superior goal difference.
The Japanese side opened the scoring in the 19th minute when Daiki Iwamasa headed home from a corner and just two minutes later Kashima moved further ahead when Shinzo Koroki headed home a free-kick.
Yuzo Tashiro made it 3-0 on the stroke of halftime and the game was over a minute after the restart when Takuya Nozawa converted a tap in.
Kashima added four more in the second period before a consolation for the hapless Thais.
At Feng Tai Stadium, Guoan completely dominated and were two goals up at the break thanks to a Guo Hui penalty and a scrambled effort by Wang Chengqing. Yang Hao headed home a third with 12 minutes remaining.
Elsewhere, South Korean outfit Chunnam Dragons saw their faint hopes of reaching the quarter-finals extinguished after a 1-1 draw with Melbourne Victory, who were already out of contention.
In Group A Uzbek giants Kuruvchi moved to the verge of the knockout rounds with a 2-0 win over former champions Al Ittihad.
Mirdjalal Kasimov’s team secured their ticket when last year’s finalists Sepahan were stunned 2-1 by Syrian side Al Ittihad Allepo.
In Group D top spot was clinched by Al Qadsia after the Kuwait side held Pakhtakor to a 2-2 draw in an ill-tempered affair at the Mohammed Al Hamed Stadium.
Al Qadsia took a 20th minute lead via Ahmed Ajab’s header, but Pakhtakor equalized in the 37th minute with a shot from Odil Ahmedov.
Al Qadsia went back in front when Khalaf Al Salama converted a penalty on halftime after Ahmed Ajab was shoved by Islom Inomov. Zaynitdin Tadjiyev got the Uzbeks back on level terms in the 84th minute.
In Qatar, Al Gharafa lost out 1-0 to Iraqi outfit Arbil in a game of little significance.
In Group C Mohamed Saeed Al Shehhi scored in the final minute as Al Wahda prevented Al Karama from clinching top spot in Group C with a 1-0 win.
Australian Alex de Minaur reached the second week of the US Open for the third year in a row with little fanfare on Saturday and said he intended to keep winning until the tournament organizers were forced to give him better billing. Despite being the eighth seed and a quarter-finalist last year at Flushing Meadows, De Minaur’s third-round match against German Daniel Altmaier was scheduled for Court 17 — the smallest of the four stadium venues in the precinct. “It is a little bit of a headscratcher for me. I’m not gonna lie,” he told reporters after progressing 6-7 (9/7), 6-3, 6-4,
Noah Lyles on Thursday warmed up for the upcoming athletics world championships by chasing down Olympic champion Letsile Tebogo to win the 200m at the Diamond League final. Lyles trailed Tebogo at the start, but gradually erased the deficit over the final 100m and pipped the Botswana sprinter to the line by centimeters. Lyles, the Olympic 100m champion and reigning world champion in both the 100m and 200m, clocked 19.74 seconds in a slight headwind. Tebogo was 0.02 seconds behind. It was Lyles’ sixth Diamond League title, a record for track athletes. “Six, that’s a big number,” Lyles said. “Shoot, that’s another record on
Jonas Vingegaard on Tuesday claimed the overall Vuelta a Espana lead while Jay Vine earned the stage 10 victory for his second triumph of the race. Two-time Tour de France winner Vingegaard overhauled Torstein Traen’s lead to head the general classification by 26 seconds from the Norwegian, with Joao Almeida third and trailing the Dane by 38 seconds. Vine put in an unmatchable performance on the final climb to finish ahead of Spanish Movistar riders Pablo Castrillo and Javier Romo. “Back in red, I’m happy with it, it’s a beautiful jersey,” Vingegaard said. “I’m happy with how the day went,
Brentford striker Yoane Wissa says he wants to leave the English Premier League club and that it is “unduly standing in my way.” A day before the end of soccer’s summer transfer period, Wissa posted a lengthy statement on social media yesterday criticizing Brentford for rejecting an apparent offer from another Premier League club despite his willingness to switch between the teams. Wissa, a reported target for Newcastle, is yet to play for Brentford this season and had already removed any association with the club from his Instagram account. Yesterday, the 28-year-old DR Congo international took it a step further on the social
RSS