Guangzhou Evergrande moved to the top of AFC Champions League Group H with a 3-1 win over Kashiwa Reysol.
Guangzhou Evergrande moved to the top of AFC Champions League Group H with a 3-1 win over Kashiwa Reysol.
Luiz Muriqui was the match-winner for the reigning Chinese Super League champions, winning a dubious first-half penalty and scoring twice after half-time.
After 28 minutes, the Brazilian striker ran onto the ball ahead of Hirofumi Watanabe who dragged him down just outside the area.
But surprisingly the referee pointed to the spot and Dario Conca slotted the penalty.
In the 50th minute, the visitors hit back when Hiroki Sakai thumped the ball home after a corner.
Muriqui made the difference, however, heading home Zhao Xuri’s cross seven minutes later and then sealing the win with six minutes left.
The 25-year-old passed the ball to his compatriot Cleo and then made a driving run through the middle to get it back, finishing the move with a fine strike.
Guangzhou lead Group H with seven points, while Kashiwa Reysol are on four points from four games.
Jeonbuk Motors are second in the group thanks to their 3-2 victory against Thai club Buriram United.
The visitors took the lead in incredible fashion in the 20th minute when Cameroonian attacker Frank Ohandza seemingly crossed from the right only for the ball to fly in off the far post.
But Jeonbuk hit back promptly when Dong-Gook Lee brilliantly chipped Buriram’s goalkeeper in the 25th minute and the home side took the lead two minutes later when Dong-Gook thumped home a volley.
Ohandza scored again in 10 minutes into the second half to give the Thai club some hope but some bad defending from Buriram allowed Won-Jae Park to score the winner from a corner.
Jeonbuk are now second in Group H with six points, ahead of Buriram on goal difference.
In Brisbane, Ulsan scored a penalty in the 73rd minute to triumph 2-1 over the home side, while Tokyo thumped Beijing Guoan 3-0.
Al Gharafa’s Anas Mubarak scored a late goal from long range to earn his side a 1-1 draw against Persepolis.
In Riyadh, Al Hilal came from behind to defeat Al Shabab 2-1 thanks to two goals to Moroccan striker Youssef El-Arabi.
In other ACL results, Pakhtakor survived a red card to Oybek Kilichev in the 75th minute to win 1-0 on the road against Al Arabi, while Bani Yas played out a 0-0 draw with Al Ittihad.
