Big-money midfielder Oscar missed a second-half penalty as Andre Villas-Boas’s Shanghai SIPG lost 1-0 to Urawa Red Diamonds in their first defeat of this year’s AFC Champions League yesterday.
After SIPG went behind to Rafael Silva’s 44th-minute strike, 60-million-euro signing Oscar looked set to maintain SIPG’s unbeaten record in Group F when he won a penalty in the 64th minute. But the Brazil international, after a stutter run-up, saw his spot-kick palmed onto the bar by Urawa goalkeeper Shusaku Nishikawa, prompting loud celebrations by the home fans.
The result means the Japanese side replace SIPG at the top of Group F on away goals scored in fixtures between the two sides, after SIPG’s 3-2 win in Shanghai last month. Alex Teixeira, another expensive Brazilian import to China, fared much better as he scored one and set up two more in Jiangsu Suning’s 3-0 victory over Japan’s Gamba Osaka. Teixeira slammed a sumptuous opener after just three minutes when he robbed veteran Japan international Yasuhito Endo and surged forward before hitting a powerful finish past Masaaki Higashiguchi. He teed up his Brazilian compatriot, Ramires, four minutes later with a dangerous ball into the box which the ex-Chelsea man steered past Higashiguchi.
And Teixeira completed the masterclass just before half-time with a pinpoint free kick onto the head of defender Hong Jeong-Ho, who made it 3-0 as Jiangsu stayed top of Group H with a maximum 12 points from four games.
Below them in the same group, Adelaide United resurrected their hopes of reaching the last 16 with a 3-1 away win over Jeju United to climb off the bottom of the standings. And in Group F, FC Seoul kept their campaign just alive with a 3-2 victory over 2014 champions Western Sydney Wanderers, courtesy of a double from Dejan Damjanovic.
“I’m really happy and finally we won,” said the Montenegrin striker, as he celebrated the first win of the campaign for last year’s semi-finalists. Of reports linking him to the Wanderers for next season, Damjanovic added: “I am 36 soon and I came to Korea to finish my football, but you never know and my contract finishes in November but my first option is Seoul.”
Seoul’s first points in Group F give them an outside chance of making the knock-out rounds as they are tied on three points with Western Sydney, six behind Urawa and SIPG.

Results
Group A: Lokomotiv Tashkent (UZB) 1 (Bikmaev 13) Esteghlal (IRI) 1 (Rezaei 87)
Group F: Western Sydney Wanderers (AUS) 2 (Antonis 77, Scott 90+2) FC Seoul (KOR) 3 (Lee Seok-Hyun 4, Damjanovic 42, 71)
Urawa Red Diamonds (JPN) 1 (Silva 44) Shanghai SIPG (CHN) 0
Group H: Jeju United (KOR) 1 (Magno Cruz 8) Adelaide United (AUS) 3 (Kim Jae-Sung 7, McGowan 49, McGree 65) Jiangsu Suning (CHN) 3 (Teixeira 3, Ramires 7, Hong Jeong-Ho 43) Gamba Osaka (JPN) 0