Substitute Yasushi Endoh scored a last-minute goal for Japan’s Kashima Antlers in a 2-1 win over South Korea’s Jeonbuk Motors on Tuesday in a match between domestic league winners in the Asian Champions League (ACL).
Eninho gave Jeonbuk the lead just before halftime, but Koji Nakata equalized midway through the second half. Endoh, on the field for five minutes, netted the winner with seconds to go.
The victory kept Kashima unbeaten in Group F.
Also in the group, Chinese club Changchun Yatai routed Indonesian visitors Persipura Jayapura 9-0. Gao Jian and Johnny Woodly Lambert scored hat tricks, Liu Weidong added two more and Wang Bo put in a late goal for Changchun.
“The goal frenzy today was not that exciting and important. This was just a new beginning for us in the ACL,” Changchun coach Shen Xiangfu was quoted as saying on the Asian Football Confederation’s Web site.
Beijing Guoan and South Korean club Seongnam Ilhwa won again to make an early break in Group E.
Beijing defeated Kawasaki Frontale 3-1 and Seongnam beat Melbourne Victory 2-0. Both winners have six points from two matches, while both losers have no points.
Australian striker Joel Griffiths scored in the 36th minute to give Beijing a 1-0 lead, but Kosuke Kikuchi leveled just four minutes later.
Wang Changqing, who went on at the start of the second half, then gave Beijing a 2-1 lead in the 65th and put the result out of reach with his second goal four minutes from time.
Melbourne fielded a depleted lineup only two days after losing in the A-League semifinals and conceded the first goal in the 40th to Seongnam defender Sasa Ognenovski. Yun Young-sun headed in a corner five minutes from the end.
In the west division, Uzbek club Bunyodkor had a 2-1 win over United Arab Emirates (UAE) club Al Wahda with Brazilian Denilson scoring two valuable away goals on either side of half time in their Group B clash.
“I am happy with six points from two games and our initial target is to first reach 12 points which I feel should be enough to advance to the next round,” Bunyodkor manager Luis Felipe Scolari, the former Brazil, Portugal and Chelsea coach, was quoted as saying.
The Uzbek club leads the group, two points ahead of Iran’s Zob Ahan, who held last year’s runners-up Al Ittihad to a 2-2 draw after the Saudis blew a two-goal lead at the Prince Abdullah Al Faisal Stadium.
Enzo Trossero’s side went into the half-time break two goals up after Abdul-Malik Ziaya scored on 12 minutes before Mohammed Noor added a second on 41 minutes.
But Fahadi Esmaeil grabbed one back for Zob Ahan five minutes after the break, with Mohammed Ghazi adding the equalizer just two minutes later.
In Group A, Qatar’s Al Gharafa beat Saudi club Al Ahli 3-2 and Esteghlal were held to a scoreless draw at home by the UAE’s Al Jazira.
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