Suwon Samsung Bluewings won Group H of 2011 AFC Champions League as a convincing 3-0 victory over Shanghai Shenhua at Shanghai Hongkou Stadium saw them edge out Kashima Antlers on goals scored.
Ha tae-gyun struck twice as he headed the visitors in front after 12 minutes before netting the second 10 minutes after the break. Shin Se-gye added a third goal two minutes before time as the K-League side walked away with all three points.
Xin Feng came close to an opener five minutes from the start, connecting with Zheng Wei’s free-kick …

Kashima Antlers came from a goal down to overcome Sydney FC 2-1 at the National Stadium in Tokyo.
Matthew Jurman headed Sydney into a first-half lead but Kashima fought back after the break and goals from Yuya Osako and Takuya Nozawa sealed their third win in this season’s competition.
Sydney had a good chance to take the lead after just two minutes when Bruno Cazarine found space in the box but keeper Hitoshi Sogahata did well to deny the forward’s low shot with an outstretched leg.
Nick Carle was then off target when …

Suwon Samsung Bluewings booked their place in the second round of the 2011 AFC Champions League with a 3-1 victory over Sydney FC at Suwon World Cup Stadium.
Despite Sydney’s need for victory, Suwon started brightly and almost took the lead in the 15th minute when a long, floated free-kick by Park Jong-jin from just past the halfway line found Kwak Hee-joo near the penalty spot but the visitors were relieved to see the central defender’s looping header bounce off the top of the crossbar.
Just as Sydney were looking more comfortable, …

Shinzo Koroki scored twice as Kashima Antlers closed in on a place in the last 16 of the 2011 AFC Champions League with a 2-0 win over Shanghai Shenhua at the National Stadium in Tokyo.
Kashima took a lead in the 32nd minute when Koroki got on the end of a Mitsuo Ogasawara free-kick before the 24-year-old forward finished from close range following Fellype Gabriel’s shot with 10 minutes to go.
Kashima goalkeeper Hitoshi Sogahata also made some fine saves to help his side collect three points.
With …

Yuzo Tashiro’s goal saw Kashima Antlers rescue a 1-1 draw with Suwon Samsung Bluewings in Group H of the 2011 AFC Champions League at the National Stadium in Tokyo.

Suwon went ahead in the 48th minute through Yeom Ki-hoon’s free-kick but Tashiro leveled for Kashima in the 55th minute.

An excellent last-gasp winner from Mark Bridge kept Sydney FC’s hopes of reaching the knockout stage of the 2011 AFC Champions League well and truly alive after they secured a hard-fought 3-2 victory over Shanghai Shenhua at Shanghai Hongkou Stadium.

Sydney FC 1-1 Shanghai Shenhua
Sydney FC had a golden opportunity to take a commanding position in the Group H game but could only manage a 1-1 draw with Shanghai Shenhua.
Sydney dominated the game for very long periods but couldn’t convert enough chances to win the game. Surprisingly however it Shanghai who made the more aggressive start and took the lead after just six minutes through striker Duvier Riascos.
The burly striker was first to react to Luis Salmeron’s flick on, turning inside Stephan Keller and unleashing a left foot shot that …

Ha Tae-gyun’s scored a hat-trick for Suwon Samsung Bluewings as they thumped Shanghai Shenhua 4 -0 in their Group H game of the 2011 AFC Champions League.

Sydney FC (0 – 0) Suwon Samsung Bluewings
Ten-man Sydney FC and Suwon Samsung Bluewings played out a hard-fought scoreless draw in their opening AFC Champions League Group H match at the Sydney Football Stadium on Wednesday.
The home side were forced to play a man short for nearly an hour in a sometimes tempestuous contest after skipper Terry McFlynn was dismissed for stamping on Lee Sang-ho.
Suwon fielded their quartet of new signings in defender Hwang Jae-won, midfielder Lee Yong-rae, striker Yeom Ki-hoon as well as …

Winners of the 209 J League, Kashima ended the 2010 season in 4th position with 16 wins, 12 draws and 6 loses. Although 4th, Kashima only missed out on 2nd by 2 points, so a very tight 2010 season in which Kashima actually performed really well. Given their past season, you can be confident that they will come into this year’s AFC Champions League keen to continue their good form as the 2011 season also kicks off. Now Group H is a very tough group but Kashima must be one of the favourites to progress.

Top spot was up for grabs in Group H. Adelaide have managed to take top spot despite losing 1 – 0 at home to Shandong Luneng. Pohang Steelers, meanwhile, will join them in the knockout stages even though they ended up on the wrong side of a seven-goal thriller against Japanese side Sanfrecce Hiroshima.
Having one the away clash in China, Adelaide were favourites to win at home and take first place. There was however talk that Adelaide tend to get better results away from home, and that is how it …

Adelaide United has claimed top spot in Group H despite going down 1-0 to Shandong Luneng at Hindmarsh stadium in the final group game of the Asian Champions League.
A second-half goal to Lei Wei was enough for the the Chinese Super League side to secure the win, but Sanfreece’s 4-3 win over Pohang Steelers in Japan denied the current holder the chance to secure top billing in Group H.

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 …

Adelaide United has qualified for the knockout stage of the Asian Champions League after battling its way to a 0-0 away draw against reigning champion Pohang Steelers.
The result at the Steelyard means both teams advance out of Group H, with Adelaide holding on to top spot – courtesy of a better head-to-head record – with a home game against Shandong Luneng still to be played.

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.

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 …

Adelaide United have all but qualified for the AFC Champions League round of 16  after an epic 3-2 victory over Sanfrecce Hiroshima at Hindmarsh Stadium.
The Reds are sitting on top of Group H with nine points having won all of their three matches.
Adelaide had the better of the first half and went into half time leading 1 -0 after captain Travis Dodd connected with a curling cross from Marcos Flores with a diving header after 11 minutes.
Sanfrecce was under constant pressure from Adelaide’s counter-attacks and on …

Jinan: Goals in each half from Sergio van Dijk and Matthew Leckie helped Adelaide United to an impressive 2-0 victory over Shandong Luneng at Shandong Sports Centre.
Van Dijk opened the scoring midway through the opening period of the AFC Champions League Group H encounter when the Dutchman got on the end of Lucas Pantelis’ teasing cross at the back post to head the Reds into the lead.
Leckie doubled Adelaide’s lead 20 minutes from the end when the Shandong defence switched off and allowed the youngster to meet Scott Jamieson’s corner …

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 H is made up of the following ACL teams.
Adelaide (AUS) – after several very successful season in the A League Adelaide finished last in 2009, but some rebuilding in the last few weeks should se much different side play in ACL 2010. At this stage couldn’t see them progressing past group stage.
Shandong (CHN) – Mid table result in 2009 so they come into the ACL 2010 with a slight cloud hanging over them. 2009 ACL ended in the group stage, so they will be hoping for better this year.
Sanfrecce …