Gamba Osaka is still searching for its first win of its Asian Champions League campaign after being hold to a 1-1 draw by Henan Jianye at Expo ’70 Commemoration Park Stadium.
Zhang Lu put the Chinese visitors ahead in the fourth minute when he pounced on a loose ball after goalkeeper Atsushi Kimra had failed to hold Daillo Amadou’s attempt.
Gamba secured a point though when Lucas scored from the spot in the 35th minute after the Brazilian had been fouled in the area.
Lucas and Ze Carlos had chances late on but Henan goalkeeper Zeng Cheng denied them both.
Meanwhile, the Suwon Bluewings eased to a comfortable 2-0 win over 10-man Singapore Armed Forces at Jalan Besar Stadium to move to the top of Group G.
Brazilian Juninho opened the scoring shortly before the break when he drove home a powerful free-kick before SAF were reduced to 10 men in the 57th minute when defender Ivan Loric was shown his second yellow card.
Jose Mota then sealed the win with 17 minutes remaining when he curled a left-foot shot into the roof of the net.
Angolan striker Flavio scored twice as Saudi Arabia’s Al Shahab recorded a 3-1 win over Uzbekistan’s Pakhtakor in Tashkent.
Flavio came close to opening the scoring midway through the first half after linking up with Camacho but could only fire straight at goalkeeper Temur Juraev.
Ahmed Ateef worked an opening on the edge of the Pakhtakor area just after the half-hour mark but blazed well wide.
After a tight first half at Pakhtakor Stadium Milorad Janjus headed onto top of the crossbar for the home side, but it was Al Shahab who broke the deadlock a minute after the hour mark as Flavio headed home Camacho’s inviting free-kick.
And the Angolan added a second 12 minutes later with a smart finish after beating the Pakhtakor off-side trap.
Substitute Alisher Azizov headed home with 10 minutes remaining to give Pakhtakor hope, but Al Shahab substitute Ahmed Al Kaabi sealed the win with a breakaway goal in stoppage time as the visitors followed up their opening day draw with Iran’s Sepahan to move to the top of Group C.
In Esfahan, Sepahan was held to its second successive draw by UAE’s Al Ain at Foolad Shahr Stadium.
Sepahan’s Ahmad Jamshidian wasted the best chance of a poor contest as Al Ain picked up a first point of the campaign after losing 1-0 at home to Pakhtakor at the end of last month.
Saudi Arabia’s Al Hilal maintained its 100 percent start with a 3-1 win over Iran’s Mes Kerman in Group D.
Swedish midfielder Christian Wilhelmsson broke the deadlock after just three minutes at the King Fahd International Stadium after beating the Mes Kerman offside trap from Thiago Neves’ defence splitting through ball.
And just 12 minutes later Wilhelmsson helped on a near post corner for Osama Hawsawi to head home from close range.
Hawsawi maintained Al Hilal’s two-goal lead at the break with a last-gasp clearance off the line to deny Milad Sheikhfakhroddini.
After Thiago missed a penalty for the home side, Yasser Al Qahtani sealed the win with nine minutes remaining before Ali Samereh grabbed a stoppage time consolation for Mes Kerman.
With Qatar’s Al Sadd demolishing Al Ahli 5-0, Al Hilal top the table three points clear of Al Sadd and Mes Kerman.
In Dubai, Brazilian striker Leandro scored a hat-trick as Al Sadd eased to victory over Henk ten Cate’s hapless Al Ahli at Al Rashid Stadium.
Ali Hassan Yahya opened the scoring nine minutes before the break following Leandro’s through ball before the Brazilian scored twice in quick succession to hand Al Sadd a deserved three-goal half-time lead.
The Brazilian was involved in Al Sadd’s fourth as the home side worked the ball across the edge of the Al Ahli area before substitute Yusuf Ahmed fired home.
And with 14 minutes remaining Leandro completed his hat-trick with a close range finish.
Finally, Brazilian Almir struck deep into injury time to give defending champions Pohang Steelers a 2-1 win over Sanfrecce Hiroshima at the Steelyard.
Hwang Jae-won headed Pohang into the lead early in the second half but the Japanese newcomers thought they had secured a point when Ilian Stoyanov converted a late penalty.
However, Almir headed home from close range to secure the three points for the South Koreans.
Adelaide maintained its perfect start with a 2-0 win over Shandong to top Group H.
