FC Seoul come out firing

Korean champions make it two wins from two in Group F of the Asian Champions League.

Damjanovic Dejan
undefined
There was a reduced programme in the Asian Champions League due to the Japan earthquake [AFP]

Korean champions FC Seoul took control of their Asian Champions League group with a blistering 3-0 home win over China’s Hangzhou Greentown on Tuesday.

China’s Tianjin Teda also made it two wins from two games with a 2-1 victory over 2008 winners Gamba Osaka.

While Japanese clubs were still fulfilling their away fixtures, home games had been indefinitely postponed due to Friday’s earthquake in Japan, both in the Champions League and the domestic J-League.

Nagoya Grampus had been due to host Al-Ain of the United Arab Emirates, but that was cancelled, as is Wednesday’s game between Kashima Antlers and Australia’s Sydney FC.

Opportunity

Seoul went ahead against the run of play in the 17th minute when the Hangzhou defence failed to clear a speculative ball forward, and Montenegrin international Dejan Damjanovic pounced on a rebound in the area to score.

Results & fixtures

Tuesday March 15

Group E
Melb Victory 1-2 Jeju United
Tianjin Teda 2-1 Gamba Osaka

Group F
Nagoya Grampus v Al Ain – pp
Seoul 3-0 Hangzhou

Group A
Al Gharafa 0-1 Al Hilal
Sepahan 5 -1 Al Jazira

Group B
Al Nassr 2-1 Esteghlal

Wednesday March 16

Group B
Al Sadd v Pakhtakor

Group C
Bunyodkor v Al Ittihad
Piroozi Athletic v Al Wahda

Group D
Emirates v Al Rayyan
Al Shabab v Zobahan

Group G
Shandong FC v Cerezo Osaka
Arema v Jeonbuk

Group H
Kashima v Sydney FC – pp
Bluewings v Shanghai Shenhua

The Chinese club looked capable of getting an equaliser, playing the more precise football, but Seoul scored twice in nine minutes in the second half to wrap up the contest. Ou Kyoung-Jun made it 2-0 in the 71st before Colombian substitute Mauricio Molina scored the third.

Fellow South Korean side Jeju United came from a goal down to beat Melbourne Victory 2-1 in Group E at Docklands Stadium in Melbourne.

Both sides were eager to put opening-day defeats behind them and Melbourne took the lead through Danny Allsopp in the 37th minute.

But Park Hyun-Bem’s 41st minute effort drew last year’s K-League runners-up level and they completed a memorable win when Lee Hyun-Ho scored the winner against the run of play with just six minutes remaining.

Jeju coach Park Kyung-Hoon said the Koreans were back in the running.

“That first result against Tianjin set us back but we’ve worked hard to fight back and we got a great result here,” he said.

Gamba loss

China’s Tianjin Teda beat Gamba Osaka 2-1 at home to move to the top of Group E.

Cao Yang’s second-half penalty clinched a hard-fought victory at the Tianjin Teda Stadium.

Chen Tao’s spectacular long-range strike put the hosts ahead midway through the first-half before Lee Keun-Ho cancelled it out on the half-hour mark with a close-range shot.

In other Middle East action, Iran’s Fooland Mobarekeh Sepahan routed Al Jazira 5-1 to send the United Arab Emirates club to the bottom of Group A.

Ahmad Jamshidian scored twice in the first half – his opener coming after only three minutes – to set the tone for the Iranian club.

Al Jazira striker Bare pulled a goal back shortly after the break but the Iranian side soon took over with strikes from Ibrahim Toure, Janjus Milorad and Javad Kazemian sealing an easy victory.

In the only Group B match, Saudi Arabia’s Al Nassr beat Esteghlal of Iran 2-1 to earn their first victory and go top of the table.

Source: News Agencies