FC Seoul made the perfect start to their AFC Champions League campaign with a 5-1 thumping of Jiangsu Sainty on Tuesday.
FC Seoul made the perfect start to their AFC Champions League campaign with a 5-1 thumping of Jiangsu Sainty on Tuesday.
Montenegrin forward Dejan Damjanovic scored 31 goals in 43 league matches for FC Seoul last season and he took just nine minutes to open his account in the AFC Champions League this term.
Damjanovic converted Japanese attacker Sergio Escudero’s assist before Il-Lok Yun added goals on 33 and 56 minutes in the Group E match.
And Damjanovic was not done with yet, adding a fourth for the winners just after the hour mark.
Jiangsu Sainty pulled a goal back with 10 minutes remaining through Albanian Hamdi Salihi but FC Seoul had the last laugh as Colombian Mauricio Molina netted on 87 minutes.
Also in Group E, Japanese side Vegalta Sendai were held to a 1-1 home draw against Buriram United of Thailand.
Guangzhou Evergrande are also sure to be a threat in the AFC Champions League this season, having won the last two Chinese Super League titles.
They comfortably dealt with Urawa Reds of the J-League in a 3-0 home success at the Tianhe Stadium in Group F.
Paraguay attacker Lucas Barrios opened the scoring after just nine minutes and it was another familiar face who doubled their lead.
Brazilian Muriqui was the scorer with 24 minutes remaining before a late Keita Suzuki own goal put extra polish on the win from Marcello Lippi’s side.
The other match in the group was a thriller, with Muang Thong United of Thailand scoring with one minute left to claim a 2-2 draw against Jeonbuk Motors of South Korea.
In Group B, Lekhwiya of Qatar beat United Arab Emirates outfit Al Shabab 2-1 while Uzbekistan outfit Pakhtakor saw off the challenge of Saudi Arabian side Al Ittifaq 1-0.
In Group A, Iranians Tractor Sazi were too strong for Al Jazira of the UAE, posting a 3-1 victory and Saudi Arabia’s Al Shabab defeated Qatar’s El Jaish 2-0.
