AFC Champions League: Pohang Title Defense Off To Inauspicious Start

The first week of AFC Champions League group stage play concluded on Wednesday with eight games.

Group C:

At Al-Ain, United Arab Emirates:

Artur Gevorkyan scored the game's lone goal at 60 minutes as FC Pakhtakor Tashkent won 1-0 on the road against Al-Ain FC.

At Riyadh, Saudi Arabia:

Faisal Bin Sultan's equalizer at 69 minutes enabled Al-Shabab to salvage a 1-1 home stalemate with Iran's Sepahan FC.

GROUP C STANDINGS:

1. FC Pakhtakor Tashkent (Uzbekistan) (GP: 1; GD: +1; PTS: 3)                     2.Sepahan FC (Iran) (GP: 1; GD: 0; PTS: 1)                                                         3.Al-Shabab (Saudi Arabia) (GP: 1; GD: 0; PTS: 1)                                           4.Al-Ain FC (UAE) (GP: 1; GD: -1; PTS: 0)

Group D:

At Doha, Qatar:

Yasser Al-Qahtani scored twice (9', 90') as Al-Hilal (Saudi Arabia) dominated Al-Sadd 3-0 on the road.

At Kerman, Iran:

Medhi Rajabzadeh doubled (75', 85') as Mes Kerman FC doubled up visiting Al-Ahli (UAE) 4-2.

GROUP D STANDINGS:

1. Al-Hilal (Saudi Arabia) (GP: 1; GD: +3; PTS: 3)                                             2. Mes Kerman FC (Iran) (GP: 1; GD: +2; PTS: 3)                                             3. Al-Ahli (UAE) (GP: 1; GD: -2; PTS: 0)                                                             4. Al-Sadd (Qatar) (GP: 1; GD: -3; PTS: 0)

Group G:

At Suwon, South Korea:

Japan's Gamba Osaka held hosts Suwon Samsung Bluewings to a 0-0 deadlock.

At Zhengzhou, China:                 

Singapore Armed Forces FC racked up a point with a 0-0 road stalemate with Henan Construction.

GROUP G STANDINGS:

1. Gamba Osaka (Japan) (GP: 1; GD: 0; PTS: 1)                                               2. Henan Construction (China) (GP: 1; GD: 0; PTS: 1)                                   3. Singapore Armed Forces FC (GP: 1; GD: 0; PTS: 1)                                     4. Suwon Samsung Bluewings (South Korea) (GP: 1; GD: 0; PTS: 1)

Group H:

At Hiroshima, Japan:

Han Peng scored the game's lone goal at 77 minutes as Shandong Luneng (China) defeated Sanfrecce Hiroshima 1-0 on the road.

At Adelaide, South Australia, Australia:

Mathew Leckie scored the game's lone goal (45'+1) as Adelaide United knocked off visiting defending champions Pohang Steelers (South Korea) 1-0.

GROUP H STANDINGS:

1. Adelaide United FC (Australia) (GP: 1; GD: +1; PTS: 3)                                   Shandong Luneng (China) (GP: 1; GD: +1; PTS: 3)                                     3. Sanfrecce Hiroshima (Japan) (GP: 1; GD: -1; PTS: 0)                                 4. Pohang Steelers (South Korea) (GP: 1; GD: -1; PTS: 0)