Kawasaki Frontale’s Ryota Oshima (centre) celebrates his goal with team-mates during their AFC Champions League match against Western Sydney Wanderers in Kawasaki, Japan, yesterday. (AFP)
AFP/Singapore
China’s Guizhou Renhe ended Korean Ulsan Hyundai’s 15-match unbeaten run in the AFC Champions League yesterday after coming from a goal down in front of a home crowd.
The Chinese FA Cup holders beat the 2012 AFC champions 3-1 at the Guiyang Olympic Centre Stadium.
Ulsan took the lead in the 34th minute when Kim Min-Kyun’s accurate through ball released Yoo Jun-Su, who outpaced the Guizhou defence before sliding the ball between the legs of goalkeeper Zhang Lie and into the net.
However, the Koreans’ lead lasted only five minutes as Chen Zijie equalised with his first goal of the night after he had beaten the offside trap.
Guizhou then went in front six minutes into the second half when Qu Bo slid in to turn home Rao Weihui’s dangerous low cross from the right.
Chen sealed victory with a fine finish eight minutes from time as he rifled a low shot from the edge of the box into the bottom corner of the Ulsan net to make it 3-1.
In addition to ending Ulsan’s long unbeaten streak, the win also saw Guizhou move up to four points, three behind Ulsan and two behind Western Sydney Wanderers and Kawasaki Frontale.
Kawasaki joined Western Sydney in second place after they also came from behind to beat the Australian side 2-1 in Japan.
Labinot Haliti scored for the second game in a row to give Western Sydney the lead in the 24th minute but Kengo Nakamura equalised in the 75th minute before Ryota Oshima scored with two minutes remaining to give Kawasaki the points.
There was also plenty of drama in Group F as Australia’s Central Coast Mariners, who began the day in last place, moved a point clear at the top after they beat Beijing Guoan of China 1-0 in Gosford and the match between FC Seoul of Korea and Sanfrecce Hiroshima of Japan ended in a 2-2 draw.
Central Coast were indebted to goalkeeper Liam Reddy, who saved a 69th minute penalty by Zhang Xizhe to keep their match against Beijing scoreless before Dutch defender Marcel Seip volleyed home Kim Seung-Yong’s cross four minutes later to break the deadlock.
The win saw Central Coast move up to six points, one ahead of the other three teams with two rounds of games remaining.
Sanfrecce could have taken over top spot but they were denied victory in Seoul by a penalty deep into stoppage time.
The Japanese champions twice took the lead at the Seoul World Cup Stadium with substitute Hwang Seok-Ho firing the visitors into the lead in the 71st minute after Gakuto Notsuda’s opening goal had been cancelled out by Yun Il-Lok.
They appeared to have secured the points when Sanfrecce goalkeeper Takuto Hayashi stopped an 89th-minute penalty by Osmar Barba.
But with the visitors reduced to 10 men after defender Hiroki Mizumoto was sent off, the pressure finally told in the sixth minute of added time when Seoul were awarded a second penalty and Rafael Costa coolly despatched the ball into the net.
