Rodrigo Pimpao set Cerezo Osaka on their way to a crushing 4-0 victory as they reached the last 16 of the AFC Champions League at the expense of Shandong Luneng.
The Japanese side needed just to avoid defeat to secure a runners-up finish behind Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors in Group G, but progressed in style with a home win at the Nagai Stadium.
Rodrigo netted the opening goal in the 39th minute before Hiroshi Kiyotake, Takashi Inui and substitute midfielder Shu Kurata scored in the second-half.
Chinese Super League side Shandong began positively, knowing …

A hat-trick from Krunoslav Lovrek helped Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors ease to a 6-0 win over Arema Indonesia at Jeonju World Cup Stadium to ensure that the hosts progressed to the last 16 of the 2011 AFC Champions League as Group G winners.
The Croatian scored inside the first minute put the K-League leaders on their way against their Indonesian opponents and from then it was a question of how many the Korea Republic team would score.
Kim Dong-chan added a second shortly after and Jung Sung-hoon made it three before two more …

Cerezo Osaka secured the three points they needed to keep their 2011 AFC Champions League chances alive with an emphatic 4-0 win over Arema Indonesia.
Goals from Hiroshi Kiyotake, Rodrigo Pimpao, Yusuke Maruhashi and Takushi Inui secured a one-sided win for the visitors, who moved level at the top of Group G to give themselves a fighting chance of progressing in the competition.
They did not have it all their own way in the early stages, though, as the home side looked lively in what turned out to be their best spell …

A late strike from Lee Dong-gook gave Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors a 1-0 win over Cerezo Osaka to put the Korea Republic team on top of Group G of the 2011 AFC Champions League.

Sydney FC v Kashima Antlers – Live Score (0 – 3)(FT)
Sydney FC’s prospects of making the AFC Asian Champions League knockout phase have nosedived after crashing to a 3-0 loss to Japanese side Kashima Antlers at the Sydney Football Stadium on Wednesday night.
It was Sydney’s first home loss in an ACL game and left it in a parlous position with all three of its remaining games offshore.
Kashima joined Korean side Suwon on five points in the four-team group, with Sydney and China’s Shanghai Shenhua both three points further back at …

Cerezo Osaka 1-0 Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors
Takashi Inui’s second-half goal saw Cerezo Osaka beat Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors 1-0 in their 2011 AFC Champions League Group G game.
Cerezo, playing their first official game since March 16, struggled to find their rhythm. It was however Inui who came close from outside the box in the 31st minute and Shu Kurata, playing well in the middle of the park, struck from the edge of the box only to be denied by Kim Min-sik.
The hosts delivered some dangerous crosses from the left but Jeonbuk centre-backs …

Shandong Luneng pick up their first win in the 2011 AFC Champions League with a convincing 2-0 defeat of Cerezo Osaka.

Cerezo Osaka 2-1 Arema Indonesia
Cerezo Osaka celebrated their AFC Champions League debut by beating Arema Indonesia 2-1 in their Group G opener at Nagai Stadium in Osaka on Wednesday.
Rodrigo Pimpao, who is on loan from Rio giants Vasco de Gama, scored both goals, with the Brazilian striker grabbing the opener early in the first half before netting the winner in the 76th minute after Singapore international Noh Alam Shah had equalised from the penalty spot.
Cerezo, who qualified for their first-ever ACL by coming …

Arema are 2010 Indonesian domestic champions. In the latest season which is 14 matches old, they are sitting 2nd with 26 points and 7 wins so far. On that form, Arema is in a great position to be competitive this year, the only issue I see is that they have probably been tagged with the hardest group in the championship. Jeonbuk and Shandong are the favourites in this group and then you also have Cerezo another japanese team. Arema certainly have their works cut out for them.

Top spot was all that was left to fight for in Group G.
Suwon Bluewings 6–2 Singapore Armed Forces
Singapore took a shock lead after just five minutes, controlling brilliantly before curling a long rage shot past Lee Woon-jae. Six minutes later however, Suwon equalised through Jose Mota. They then took the lead through Lee Hyun-jin, who was first to react to a rebound. Kwak Hee-ju then headed home a set piece on the half-hour mark to make it 3-1. Mota grabbed his second seven minutes before the break.
Second half substitute Yeom …

Group G
Gamba Osaka 2-1 Suwon Samsung Bluewings
A last minute strike by Takashi Usami, assured Gamba Osaka first place in Group G.
Gamba started the game in second position, 2 points behind Suwon, who had also yet to lose a game.
Suwon scored first in the 58th minute through Jose Mota, his fifth goal of the competition.
However, the Koreans were pegged back only three minutes later by Takahiro Futagawa.
Scores remained at 1-1 until injury time when the 17-year-old Usami netted the winner.
Gamba now lead the group with …

With all games in Match Day 4 of the AFC Champions League completed, two more teams have confirming their places in the Round of 16.

Seongnam Ilhwa made it four in a row in Group E to go through while Suwon Bluewings made sure of their advance in Group G.

Group A

Esteghlal, of Iran, drew 1-1 away to Qatar’s Al Gharafa and Saudi Arabia’s Al Ahli scored a 2-0 away win over Al Jazira.

Younis Mahmoud gave Gharafa a 1-0 lead before the interval but Mehdi Salehi equalised for the visitors on 58 minutes.

Group A
Esteghlal 3-0 Al Gharafa
Al Ahli 5-1 Al-Jazira
Al Gharafa couldn’t compete with Esteghlal today and went down 3-0 in the Azadi Stadium today. Esteghlal striker Farhad Majidi bagged himself two goals today. Majidi put the hosts ahead after a quarter of an hour before doubling their lead ten minutes after the break. Defender Pejman Montazeri then sealed the victory ten minutes from time.
In Group A’s other fixture, Al-Ahli, who so far have leaked five goals in their first two matches, turned things around against Al Jazira scoring 5 goals and …

Quick summary of the results from the remainder of the Matchday 1 games played overnight in Asia’s premier club competition – Asian Champions League.

Group C

Al-Ain 0–1 Pakhtakor Tashkent
Al Shabab 1-1 Sepahan

Group G is made up of the following ACL teams.
Henan (CHN) – ended 2009 3rd in he Super league so enter ACL 2010 with some good form. Expect some tough opposition when playing away to Henan this year.
Gamba (JPN) – also ended 3rd in the 2009 J League. Their performance on ACL 2009 lead them to the round of 16, losing to fellow J League Kawasaki.
Suwon (KOR) – ended mid table last year in K League so form might be a telling factor in how they begin their 2010 campaign. …

Suwon Samsung Bluewings booked their place in round 2 with a 3-1 win over Singapore Armed Forces.
They now join Kashima Antlers in the top two spots in Group G.
It was far from an easy win. Bae Ki-jong headed home the opener for Suwon after just four minutes of the first half. Alexander Duric headed an equalizer with 4 minutes to go in the first half.
Suwon took the lead again just after the break with a Lee Sang-ho header.
Both teams had chances to add to the scoreline but it was Seo …

Kashima Antlers are in the second round of the Asian Champions League while Suwon Samsung Bluewings are on the brink.
It was a comfortable win for Kashima who avenged the 4-1 trashing they received in Korea in March.
Go Aiwa headed home the opener from a 27th minute corner and five minutes later, Marquinhos srambled a 2nd from close range.
Marquinhos was in the thick of it again, and sealed the win 15 minutes from full time.
Shanghai Shenhua needed to win against Singapore Armed Forces,the weakest side in the tournament. However, they were …

Kashima Antlers manager Oswaldo Oliveira had plenty of reason to be happy after his side’s convincing 5-0 home victory over Singapore Armed Forces on Wednesday.

Midfielder Takuya Nozawa and forward Shinzo Koroki gave the J.League champions a 2-0 lead at half-time.

Captain Mitsuo Ogasawara and teenager Yuya Osako extended the advantage early in the second half before Koroki scored his second of the game to seal an emphatic win for the home side who joined Suwon Bluewings at the top of Group G with nine points.

Suwon Bluewings coach Cha Bum-kun was delighted with the performance he got from his young players as the Koreans battled back for a 2-1 victory over Shanghai Shenhua on Wednesday.

Due to injuries and fatigue, Cha was forced to start four players who had not started a game all season for Suwon.

But they all stepped up to the plate as Suwon hit back with goals from Lee Sang-ho and Bae Ki-jeong securing the three points after Yanko Valkanov had put Shanghai in the lead.