Al Rayyan 3-4 Al Jazira
Brazilian forward Ricardo Oliveira scored all four of Al Jazira’s goals as the United Arab Emirates Pro League side claimed their fifth victory in six Group A matches with a lively 4-3 win over Al Rayyan of Qatar on Wednesday.
Oliveira entered the match at the Ahmed Bin Ali Stadium as the leading scorer in the AFC Champions League with six goals after he had bagged a hat-trick in Al Jazira’s 4-1 thrashing of Nasaf two weeks ago. And the Brazilian raised his tally in the competition …

Baniyas 2-0 Pakhtakor
AFC Champions League debutants Baniyas secured a spot in the Round of 16 after downing tournament ever-presents Pakhtakor 2-0 on Wednesday to take second spot in Group B. Senegalese forward Andre Senghor fired Baniyas ahead after 13 minutes and substitute Amer Abdulrahman added a second against the Uzbek club after the interval to help the UAE Pro League side to join group winners Al Ittihad of Saudi Arabia in the knockout rounds.
Baniyas went into the match with a one-point edge over the visiting side following their 4-0 drubbing …

GAMBA OSAKA (JPN) v ADELAIDE UNITED (AUS) (0 – 2) (FT)
BRISBANE ROAR (AUS) v BEIJING GUOAN (CHN) (1 – 1) (FT)
ULSAN HYUNDAI (KOR) v FC TOKYO (JPN) (1 – 0) (FT)
BUNYODKOR (UZB) v POHANG STEELERS (KOR) (1 – 0) (FT)
NASAF (UZB) v ESTEGHLAL (IRN) (0 – 2) (FT)
AL RAYYAN (QAT) v AL JAZIRA (UAE) (3 – 4) (FT)
BANIYAS (UAE) v PAKHTAKOR (UZB) (2 – 0) (FT)
AL ITTIHAD (KSA) v AL ARABI (QAT) (3 – 2) (FT)

Pakhtakor 1-2 Al Ittihad

Al Arabi 0-1 Pakhtakor
Temurkhuja Abdukholiqov capitalised on a defensive error to score the only goal of the game as Pakhtakor boosted their hopes of qualifying for the knockout stage of the AFC Champions League with a 1-0 away win over pointless Al Arabi on Tuesday.
The Pakhtakor striker struck four minutes before half-time at the Grand Hamad Stadium following some calamitous defending by Ahmed Dad to give the Uzbek side their second consecutive win, which sent them up to second in Group B.
The visitors were reduced to 10 men with …

Pakhtakor 3-1 Al Arabi
Pakhtakor got their AFC Champions League campaign back on track as a pair of late goals lifted the Uzbek side to a 3-1 victory over Al Arabi of Qatar on Wednesday.
Sherzod Karimov’s fortuitous early goal at the Jar Stadium was cancelled out when Leonardo Pisculichi capitalised on a defensive error to level the score late in the first half.
But Dilshod Sharofetdinov netted his second goal in as many games to put the hosts back ahead in the 74th minute before Temurkhuja Abdukholiqov sealed victory with his side’s …

Pakhtakor 1-1 Baniyas
First timers, Baniyas maintained their unbeaten record in the tournament as they fought back from a goal down to draw 1-1 with Pakhtakor in Group B of the 2012 Asian Champions League.
Dilshod Sharofetdinov scored the opening goal in the first half but Mohamed Fawzi fired in the equaliser for Baniyas on the hour mark to give the United Arab Emirates side a share of the points on a very cold night in Iran.
Whilst the snow had been cleared, the pitch conditions where still quite poor and played a …

Al Rayyan V Esteghlal (0 – 1)
Substitute Goran Jerkovic scored in stoppage time as Iranian giants Esteghlal followed up their back-to-back play-offs wins with a dramatic 1-0 victory over Qatar’s Al Rayyan at the Ahmed bin Ali Stadium in the AFC Champions League on Tuesday.
With 80 minutes already played and no goals scored, the match appeared to be headed for a goalless draw. However a wonder substitution, bringing French striker Jerkovic on for Milad Midavoodi changed the game and the scoreline almost instantly. The game ended 0 – 1, giving …

Baniyas v Al Arabi (2 – 0)
A first-half penalty from captain Yousef Jaber and a composed second half finish from Spanish midfielder Francisco Yeste secured AFC Champions League debutants Baniyas a memorable 2-0 win over Qatar’s Al Arabi in Group B on Tuesday.
Both sides enjoyed an even share of possession in the first half. Senegalese striker Andre Senghor, who was the top scorer in the UAE Pro League last season with 18 goals, saw his close range effort cleared off the line on the half-hour mark.
That chance brought the game …

Esteghlal ended their 2011 AFC Champions league campaign with a 2-1 victory over Al Nassr at the Azadi Stadium, but it was not sufficient to seal a place in the last 16 as they lost out to their Saudi opponents on goal difference.
Badar Al Motawa opened the scoring on the hour mark before Farhad Majidi in the 62nd and Hawar Mulla Mohammed in the 89th minutes turned the match around for Esteghlal.
In a first half low on excitement, the visitors created the first chance in the 16th minute from a …

Bader Al Motawaa scored twice as Al Nassr thrashed Pakhtakor 4-0 at King Fahd International Stadium and put themselves in pole position to join Al Sadd in the last 16 of the 2011 AFC Champions League from Group B.
The home side took the lead with just seven minutes on the clock when Hamoud met Khaled Asiri’s cross from the left with a superb diving header from six yards out that left keeper Nikita Ribkin no chance.
Stanislav Andreev saw a free-kick dip just over the …

Al Sadd staged a thrilling comeback on Wednesday as they rallied from 2-0 deficit to hold Esteghlal in a key 2011 AFC Champions League clash.
Al Sadd, leaders of Group B before the start of the match at Jassim Bin Hamad Stadium, dominated most of the opening half but were behind at the break after visiting skipper Farhad Majidi struck twice.
However, Al Sadd turned it around in the second period with Khalfan Ibrahim and substitute Hasan Haydos both on target.
The draw was enough to keep Al Sadd at the top of …

Egor Krimets’ header two minutes from time breathed new life into Pakhtakor’s 2011 AFC Champions League campaign with a 2-1 win over Esteghlal at Pakhtakor Stadium.

Al Sadd 1-0 Al Nassr
Lee Jung-soo’s second-half header sent Al Sadd to the top of Group B in the 2011 AFC Champions League after they edged out Al Nassr 1-0 at Al Sadd Stadium.
Lee deftly headed Nadir Belhadj’s corner into the back of the net after 60 minutes for his second goal of the tournament as the Qataris moved on to seven points with the victory, three ahead of their Saudi opponents.
Al Nassr threatened first and in the fourth minute, striker Mohammed Al Sahlwai slipped in a pass to team-mate …

Al Nassr scored two goals in the 2nd half to claim victory against Esteghlal 2-1.

Al Nassr (2-2) Pakhtakor
Al Nassr twice came from behind to earn their first point of the AFC Champions League with a 2-2 draw with Pakhtakor.
Sherzod Karimov opened the scoring for the hosts seconds before the break but Bader Al Motawaa equalised five minutes into the second half.
Dilshod Sharofetdinov put Pakhtakor ahead once again on the hour but Bojan Miladinovic ensured Al Nassr would leave Uzbekistan with their first point in Group B when he put the ball into his own net when attempting to cut out Mohammad Al Sahlawi’s cross.
Al …

Currently sitting in 4th position domestically (mid way through the 2010/11 season), Al Nassr will make it’s first appearance at the AFC Champions League. Certainly not a favourite to make it’s way through Group B when you consider that they are competing with the likes of Esteghlal and Pakhtakor, two established teams in the competition.

Denilson made all the difference for Luiz Felipe Scolari’s Bunyodkor, ensuring his side made it into the knockout stages.
The Uzbek champions need to win and hope that Zob Ahan also won in order to progress. It turned out that way and now they will meet Saudi champs Al-Hilal. Zob Ahan’s win sees them qualify as group winners to set-up an all Iranian clash with Mes Kerman.
Bunyodkor 4-1 Al-Wehda
Rivaldo opened the scoring 28 minutes in, as Wehda left him un-marked inside the box to head home Djeparov’s cross. Denilson doubled their …

Kawasaki Frontale have battled back from the brink to give themselves a shot at qualification for the last 16 of the AFC Champions League. The J-League side visit Beijing Gouan on the final matchday only one point behind the Chinese Super League team and the winner of that tie will take their place alongside Seongnam Ilhwa Chunma in the knockouts.

Frontale were off to a flyer and were two goals to the good by the 20 minute mark. Hiroyuki Taniguchi opened the scoring after five minutes and Yusuke Tasaka doubled the lead 15 minutes after. That was the way it remained until the 79th minute when Renatinho added a third for a rejuvenated Kawasaki, who lost to Melbourne in their last outing.

Match Day 4 Tuesday of the AFC Champions League 2010 resulted in some upsets and wake up calls for many teams that had a easy road so far.

Group B

Zob Ahan have managed 2 major upsets in a matter of weeks against the Uzbek aristocrats Bunyodkor on Tuesday.

They followed up their MD3 3-0 home victory with a 1-0 win that takes them to the top of the table with 10 points and sends Bunyodkor tumbling down to third, with six points.