KUALA LUMPUR: Japan’s Vissel Kobe moved top of the standings in the eastern zone of the Asian Champions League Elite on Tuesday as the J-League champions ended Gwangju FC’s perfect start to the league phase with a 2-0 win in Kobe.

Taisei Miyashiro and Daiju Sasaki struck to snap the South Korean side’s three-game winning streak and climb above Lee Jung-hyo’s team into pole position in the table at the halfway point of the opening round of the competition.

Kawasaki Frontale picked up their second win of the campaign with a 3-1 victory over Chinese Super League champions Shanghai Port while Central Coast Mariners scored in injury time to secure a 2-2 draw with Shanghai Shenhua in Gosford.

Malaysia’s Johor Darul Ta’zim, meanwhile, inflicted a 3-0 defeat on Ulsan HD in Johor to leave the South Korean champions rooted to the bottom of the standings without a point.

The top eight finishers in the 12-team standings in both east and west Asia advance to March’s knockout rounds, with the quarter-finals, semi-finals and final all due to be played on a centralised basis in Saudi Arabia in April and May.

In Kobe, the hosts took the lead in first-half injury time when Miyashiro buried his penalty following a handball in the box. Nine minutes after the break, Sasaki pounced from close range with a header to double the hosts’ advantage.

The deserved victory left Vissel top with three wins and a draw. Gwangju drop to second with JDT moving into third while Shanghai Shenhua sit fourth having thrown away a two-goal lead against Australian champions Central Coast to draw.

Andre Luis and Yu Hanchao had given Leonid Slutsky’s side a two-goal lead with strikes in the 50th and 64th minutes respectively but, after Sabit Ngor halved the deficit, Bailey Brandtman struck deep in injury time for the hosts.

The point was Central Coast’s first in four games and lifts them off the bottom with Ulsan now propping up the standings without a point following their loss to JDT.

Arif Aiman put the Malaysian hosts in front having been gifted possession after eight minutes and Oscar Arribas doubled the lead with a deflected shot midway through the second half. Bergson scored the third late on as JDT moved onto seven points at the halfway stage.

Kawasaki secured their win thanks to goals from Akihiro Ienaga, Yusuke Segawa and Sai van Wermeskerken. Matias Vargas pulled back a consolation for Port, who pipped rivals Shenhua by a point to win the Chinese Super League on Saturday.

NEYMAR IN FRESH INJURY SETBACK

On Monday, Al-Hilal’s Aleksandar Mitrovic got a hat-trick as they continued their perfect start in the West Zone with a 3-0 win over Iran’s Esteghlal, although the Saudi side’s evening was soured by a late injury to Neymar.

The Brazilian, who limped off 30 minutes after coming on as a second-half substitute, was not too downcast after the injury, saying he felt the issue was nothing more than a strong cramp and that doctors had warned him about the potential for muscle issues following his return from an anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury.

The 32-year-old returned to action two weeks ago, having been out since Brazil’s CONMEBOL World Cup qualifier against Uruguay in October last year when he suffered the injury.

“It felt like a cramp, only very strong!” Neymar posted on Instagram, although his coach said he will miss at least two weeks’ training.

“Neymar, it’s not an easy case,” said Al Hilal’s Portuguese coach Jorge Jesus. “On the medical level, his knee is healed, but then he will have problems like today, muscle problems because he hasn’t played for a long time. Now he has a muscle injury. I don’t know how long he won’t be able to train, two weeks at least.”

Mitrovic put Al-Hilal ahead at Riyadh’s Kingdom Arena with a 15th minute tap-in and doubled the advantage with another straightforward finish in the 33rd minute.

The former Fulham striker completed his hat-trick with a 74th minute header into the bottom corner from Joao Cancelo’s cross from the right.

The win puts Saudi title-holders Al Hilal, record four-time continental champions, top of the standings for West Asia, with four victories from four.

Fellow Saudi side Al Ahli ensured they would keep pace with their Riyadh rivals. Roberto Firmino and Riyad Mahrez both scored twice in a 5-1 win over Al Shorta of Iraq to take the team to 12 points from a possible 12.

Iran’s Persepolis drew 1-1 with Al-Gharafa from Qatar and Al Wasl of the United Arab Emirates also shared a 1-1 draw with Qatari outfit Al-Sadd.

Al-Hilal and Al-Ahli have opened up a four-point gap over third-placed Al-Sadd with fellow Saudi Pro League side Al-Nassr a further point back in fourth.

The first eight finishers in the 12-team league phase in both west and east Asia will advance to the knockout rounds, which will be played in March.

Published in Dawn, November 6th, 2024