Seongnam Ilhwa, of Korea Republic, beat Melbourne Victory 2-0 in Melbourne to join Beijing at the top of Group E while Japanese champions Kashima Antlers beat 2006 ACL winners Jeonbuk Motors 2-1 in Jeonju.

Bunyodkor beat UAE’s Al Wahda 2-1 away with Brazilian Denilson scoring twice in their Group B clash. They Now lead the group with six points, two ahead of Iran’s Zob Ahan, who drew 2-2 away to Saudi side Al Ittihad.

In Group A, Qatar’s Al Gharafa beat Al Ahli (Saudi Arabia) 3- 2 while Esteghlal were held to a 0-0 draw at home by UAE’s Al Jazira.

Changchun have three points from two matches, three behind the Antlers, who won thanks to a last-minute strike from substitute Yasushi Endoh.

Jeonbuk had earlier taken the lead through Eninho before Koji Nakata equalised.

In Group E, Seongnam and Beijing have six points each while Melbourne and Kawasaki have yet to pick up any points.

Adelaide United made it two from two in Group H after a 2-0 victory away to China’s Shandong Luneng. Goals scored by Sergio van Dijk and Matthew Leckie.

2008 champions Gamba Osaka drew 1-1 at home to Chinese side Henan Jianye. Suwon Bluewings, of Korea Republic, beat 10-man Singapore Armed Forces 2-0 away in Singapore.

Suwon’s goals were scored by Brazilians Juninho and Jose Mota. For Gamba, Lucas scored with a penalty in the 35th minute to level the scores after Zhang Lu gave Henan the lead after four minutes.

In the West, we had wins for Saudi Arabia’s Al Shabab and Al Hilal, and Al Sadd, of Qatar.

Shabab earned a convincing 3-1 victory over Pakhtakor in Tashkent to top Group C with four points, one ahead of the Uzbeks and two more than Iran’s Sepahan, who drew 0-0 at home with 2003 champions Al Ain.

Flavio scored twice for Shabab in the second half before Alisher Azizov pulled one back for the home side. Ahmed Al Kaabi sealed victory for the Saudis in stoppage time.

Brazilian striker Leandro scored a hat-trick for Al Sadd in their 5-0 away win over Al Ahli in Group D with Ali Hassan Yahya and Yusuf Ahmed also getting on the scoresheet.

Hilal were also impressive with a 3-1 Group D victory over Iranians Mes Kerman at home. With six points they lead the group, and are three ahead of Al Sadd, beaten 3-0 by Hilal last week.

Al Sadd coach Cosmin Olaroiu said: “We didn’t expect to win so easily because Al Ahli have lot of young players. We just played our best. We came to win and it does not matter whether it is by four or five goals.”

Christian Wilhelmsson, Osama Hawsawi and Yasser Al Qahtani found the target for Hilal, who are emerging as one of the early favourites for the 2010 title.

Ali Samereh hit an injury-time consolation goal for Mes Kerman.

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 unchallenged with a flying header that hit the underside of the bar and bounced over the line.

It was Adelaide’s second consecutive victory in the competition and they now top Group H with a 100% record.

The Reds were content to let Shandong have the lion’s share of possession with the speedy Leckie and Travis Dodd always a threat on the counter.

Adelaide took the lead in the 28th minute. Argentine Marcos Flores sliced open Shandong’s defence as the creative play-maker found Pantelis with a beautifully weighted through-ball.

The diminutive midfielder whipped in an inch-perfect cross with his right boot for van Dijk to score with a free header at the back post.

Flores then nearly claimed his first Adelaide goal when Pantelis found Dodd and the captain did well to hold up possession and find the Argentine inside the box but Li parried his shot.

Jamieson’s resulting corner was met by the charging Leckie in all sorts of space and he powered a flying header past Li that hit the bar and bounced over the line.Jamieson’s resulting corner was met by the charging Leckie in all sorts of space and he powered a flying header past Li that hit the bar and bounced over the line.

Al Gharafa took the lead after just two minutes at Al Gharafa Stadium through Mohammed Al Zaini only for a deflected shot from Brazilian playmaker Marcinho to pull the visitors level on the stroke of half-time.

Abdulrahim Mustafa handed Sergio Farias’s side the lead just after the hour mark, but after substitute Al Shammari equalised, Araújo struck with nine minutes remaining as Al Gharafa maintained their 100% record in Group A while handing Al Ahli a second consecutive defeat.

Denilson, who won the AFC Champions League with Korea Republic’s Pohang Steelers last year, struck in either half to seal the win as last year’s quarter-finalists built on their opening round vicotry over Saudi Arabia’s Al Ittihad.

Nine minutes before the break Al Hosani was at fault for Bunyodkor’s opener as the Al Wahda goalkeeper charged out of his goal in an attempt to collect Victor Karpenko’c cross, but was beaten to the delivery by Denilson as the Brazilian rose on the penalty spot to head into the unguarded net.

With five minutes remaining Al Hosani failed to hold Jasur Hasanov’s stinging drive and Denilson nipped in to fire into the empty net from close range.

Substitute Al Kathiri capitalised on poor marking to slot home from close range to reduce the deficit with a minute remaining and Al Wahda almost snatched a point in stoppage time but Nesterov again saved the visitors by denying Baiano

Al Jazira’s Khalid Sebil crashed a long-range effort against the bar three minutes before the break and Esteghlal’s Fabio Januario did the same from inside the box in first-half stoppage-time as honours ended even with both sides failing to take their chances.

Al Jazira had the first attempt on target after 11 minutes when Subait Khater’s free-kick from 35 yards was punched away by goalkeeper Mohammad Mohammadi.

Moments later, Esteghlal launched a swift counter-attack as Farhad Majidi ran almost the length of the pitch before finding Januario but the Brazilian’s shot deflected wide.

Esteghlal had a great chance to open the scoring five minutes before the break when Siavash Akbarpour’s chipped ball into the box was chested down by Majidi into the path of Kazemi but the midfielder’s fierce strike from 10 yards was straight at Ali Khaseif.

Chances were scarce in the second period but Januario wasted a good opportunity in the 58th minute when, following a neat one-two, he fired over from 10 yards.

A beautifully crafted goal just before the break from Brazilian star Eninho gave Jeonbuk a first-half lead but Koji Nakata equalised midway through the second period before Endoh snatched the win with just seconds remaining.

The first opening came after 5 minutes as Lee Dong-guk burst into the area from the right side but his low shot was saved by the feet of Hitoshi Sogahata.

Just before the break however, Jeonbuk took the lead with the best passage of play in the opening 45 minutes.

Both teams pushed for the winner and it duly came at the end of 90 minutes for Kashima.

Mitsuo Ogasawara fed Endoh – who had only been on the pitch for five minutes – and the substitute slotted the ball past Kwon from just inside the area.

Ognenovski slid home the opening goal of a scrappy match in the 40th minute before Yun Young-sun then made sure of the result with the second five minutes from full-time.

It was a scrappy opening half that featured four bookings. Seongnam had the first chance with Mauricio Molina’s angled shot denied while after 21 minutes, a fierce long shot from Kim Sung-hwan rose over the bar.

Costa Rican Marvin Angulo had Melbourne’s best chance of the half, latching onto some good work from Robbie Kruse and Nick Ward but hitting his shot straight at Jung Sung-Ryung.

Keeping with the nature of the game, Ognenovski’s goal five minutes before the interval was far from pretty.

Ward gave away a free-kick in a dangerous area and Molina delivered the ball into the box. It hit Leigh Broxham then the bar and the rebound was out of Mitch Langerak’s reach. Former Queensland and Adelaide defender Ognenovski was on hand to tuck it away.

Melbourne pressed hard for an equaliser but Kruse stumbled in the box and Hernandez fired a long-range effort straight at the keeper.

Those misses were to prove costly as Song Ho-young won a corner and from that Yun rose unmarked to nod the ball home.

Changchun were determined to get their Group F campaign up and running following an opening 1-0 defeat at Kashima Antlers and they did so in emphatic fashion as they thumped the hapless Indonesians.

After Gao opened the scoring midway through the first-half, the Chinese Super League runners-up embarked on a goal frenzy as they punished Persipura’s poor defending. Liu Weidong also scored twice and fellow substitute Wang Bo claimed a late goal.

Changchun took the lead in the 24th minute when Lambert delivered a cross into the path of Gao, who beat goalkeeper Jendry Pitoy with a curling shot. They doubled their lead just after the half-hour mark when Lambert set up Gao for a second time and he coolly finished with a drive inside the box.

The Costa Rican scored his first goal of the game two minutes before the break, firing past Pitoy after latching onto a precise through ball by Cao as the hosts established a three-goal lead by the interval.

Lambert scored his second goal eight minutes into the second-half, tapping home Cao’s inviting cross. Gao then completed his hat-trick with a header four minutes later before Lambert followed suit on the hour-mark. Lambert tested Pitoy with a long-range effort just five minutes after bagging his treble but it was substitute Liu who reacted quickest to pounce on the rebound and find the back of the net.

Five minutes before the final whistle, Liu clipped a cross for Wang Bo to head in before he claimed his second in a goalmouth scramble during stoppage time.

Australian striker Joel Griffiths produced a cool finish to open the scoring for Beijing after 37 minutes before Kosuke Kikuchi hit back for the home side just three minutes later.

But after stepping off the bench at half-time, Wang regained Beijing’s lead five minutes after the hour mark before sealing the win with a sublime finish with four minutes remaining.

The win ensures Beijing remain at the top of the group alongside Seongnam, who beat Melbourne 2-0.

POHANG STEELERS (KOR) vs SANFRECCE HIROSHIMA (JPN) (2 – 1)
GAMBA OSAKA (JPN) vs HENAN JIANYE (CHN) (1 – 1)
SINGAPORE ARMED FORCES (SIN) vs SUWON SAMSUNG BLUEWINGS (KOR) (0 -2)
FOOLAD MOBAREKEH SEPAHAN (IRN) vs AL AIN (UAE) (0 -0)
PAKHTAKOR (UZB) vs AL SHABAB (KSA) (1 – 3)
AL AHLI (UAE) vs AL SADD (QAT) (0 – 5)
AL HILAL (KSA) vs MES KERMAN (IRN) (3 – 1)

SHANDONG LUNENG FC (CHN) vs ADELAIDE UNITED (AUS) (0 – 2) (FT’)
CHANGCHUN YATAI FC (CHN) vs PERSIPURA JAYAPURA (IDN) (9 – 0) (FT)
MELBOURNE VICTORY (AUS) vs SEONGNAM ILHWA FC (KOR) (0 : 2) (FT)
JEONBUK MOTORS (KOR) vs KASHIMA ANTLERS (JPN) (1 : 2) (FT)
KAWASAKI (JPN) vs BEIJING GUOAN (CHN) (1 : 3) (FT)
ESTEGHLAL (IRN) vs AL JAZIRA (UAE) (0 – 0) (FT)
AL GHARAFA (QAT) vs AL AHLI (KSA) (3 – 2) (FT)
AL WAHDA (UAE) vs BUNYODKOR (UZB) (1 – 2) (FT)
AL ITTIHAD (KSA) vs ZOBAHAN (IRN) (2 – 2) (FT)

Group C

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

Pakhtakor of Uzbekistan grabbed their first win over Al-Ain of the UAE  with a goal from Artur Gevorkyan right on the hour mark.

Saudi club Al Shabab hosted Sepahan from Iran. Their opening game ended 1 -1 after Sultan’s 70th minute equaliser cancelled out Hosseini’s first-half opener.

Group D

Al-Sadd 0-3 Al Hilal
Mes Krman 4–2 Al-Ahli

Saudi reigning champions Al Hilal made the right start with a thumping of Qatar champions Al Sadd in Doha. Yasser Al-Qahtani grabbed a brace before Brazilian Thiago Neves secured a comprehensive victory in the final minute.

Mes Krman celebrated their ACL debut with a 4-2 victory over Dubai based giants Al-Ahli. Krman got thier first goal on the 20 minute mark when Mostafa Sayfi put the hosts ahead. Goals followed from Salem Khamis and Mehrzad Madanchi either side of the break sealing off a great victory.  With 15 minutes remaining the home side clicked back into gear as Mehdi Rajabzadeh grabbed a brace before Ali Samereh put the icing on the cake with seconds remaining.

Group G

Suwon S.B 0–0 Gamba Osaka
Henan Siwu 0–0 Singapore Armed Forces

A very fry goal session for Group G overnight with no goals being recorded in the opening round. Gamba missed several chances with Hideo Hashimoto hitting the woodwork though former Paris St.Germain forward Reinaldo missed a golden opportunity for the Bluewings. Chinese side Henan Jianye were making their debut in the competition and won’t be too disappointed with a point against Richard Bok’s much improved Singapore Armed Forces.

Group H

Adelaide United 1-0 Pohang Steelers
Sanfrecce Hiroshima 0-1 Shandong Luneng

Adelaide United kicked off their ACL campaign with a tough win at home over reigning champions Pohang Steelers. The only goal of the game came just before half time from Matthew Leckie’s lucky strike. The 19-year-old latched onto a clearance from a Pohang corner and ran the length of the field before Park Hee-Chul deflected an attempted clearance back off the forward’s shin and past a despairing Shin Hwa-Yong in the Steelers goal.

Three-time Chinese champions Shandong Luneng left Sanfrecce’s Hiroshima Big Arch Stadium with Chinese international Han Peng grabbing the game’s only goal 15 minutes from time.

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 Hiroshima (JPN) – finished 4th in 2009 in J League and didn’t feature in the ACL. Japanese teams are who to atch this year so I would rate them a good chance to progress.
Pohang (KOR) – reigning champions but a different team and coach this year will some some instability and an opportunity for some teams to gain some much needed early points.

Group H March Day 1 features:
SANFRECCE HIROSHIMA (JPN) vs SHANDONG LUNENG FC (CHN) – Hiroshima playing at home will be hard to beat. 2 – 0
ADELAIDE UNITED (AUS) vs POHANG STEELERS (KOR) – Adelaide are in season and will cause a few headaches. I am bold in predicting an upset at Hindmarsh.

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. They also only made it to round 16 in 2009.
Singapore Armed Forces (SIN) – Continue good form on 2010 following title win last year. They qualified through the playoffs this year so have  few games in hand already. Not likely to threaten the other teams.

Group G March Day 1 features:
SUWON SAMSUNG BLUEWINGS (KOR) vs GAMBA OSAKA (JPN) – Tough opening encounter but I would be putting my money on the home team for the opening game.
HENAN JIANYE (CHN) vs SINGAPORE ARMED FORCES (SIN) – Cold in China at the moment as Melbourne Victory found out last night. Henan likely to be the victors at home this time.

Goals from Moroccan Othman Al Assas and Iraq international Younis Mahmoud secured the win for the visitors at Mohammad Bin Zayed Stadium with Rafael Sobis scoring a consolation for Al Jazira.

Al Jazira coach Abel Braga was disappointed at how easily the UAE side succumbed to defeat.

“When we managed to score our first goal I thought we would come back with more goals, but our play was disappointing,” he said.

“We have been defeated before but not in this manner.

“It is only the first game and we still have our chance.”

Iranians Esteghal also made a winning start in the group following a 2-1 win at Saudis Al Ahli at Prince Abdullah Al Faisal Stadium.

Farhad Majidi scored in either half to wrap up the three points before substitute Hassan Al Raheb grabbed a late consolation for the home side.

The result means Sergio Farias, who led South Korean’s Pohang Steelers to the Asian title last year, suffered a continental debut defeat in charge of Al Ahli.

Kim Seung-yong’s scored a 15 minute penalty opening the score. Two minutes later Lovrak doubled Jeonbuk’s lead when he lost his marker and fired home.

Persipura’s lack of concentration proved crucial as Lovrak capped off a swift counter-attack six minutes after the hour mark.

Ian Kabes curled home an impressive consolation for the hosts a minute later, but with nine minutes remaining Lovrak completed his hat-trick to seal the win with a close-range finish.

In Kashima, J.League champions Kashima Antlers also got their Group F campaign off to a winning start with a 1-0 win over Chinese Super League side Changchun Yatai.

Former Japan international Koji Nakata headed home Takuya Nozawa’s free-kick three minutes before half-time at Kashima Soccer Stadium to hand the three-time J.League champions all three points.

The Tashkent giants’ heavy investment over the close season paid off as they completely outclassed a poor Al Ittihad side in the Group B clash at JAR Stadium.

Rivaldo scored early with only 4 mins on the clock following a surging run from Denilson.

They then doubled their lead in the 20th minute due to some poor defending when goalkeeper Tisir Al Antiaf’s mis-punched with the ball landing at Hasanov’s feet on the far side of the box.

His mis-hit shot bounced over a prone Denilson and evaded Osama Al Harbi on the line and dribbled into the net.

Bunyodkor netted a third in the 66th minute and again slack marking was to blame.

The visitors were awarded a penalty for a foul on Sultan Al Numare in stoppage-time but Mohammed Noor saw his effort come back off the inside of the post having sent the goalkeeper the wrong way.

In the group’s other game, Igor Castro’s second-half header secured a 1-0 win for Zob Ahan over Al Wahda at Foolad Shahr Stadium.

In a game of few chances, the Brazilian broke the deadlock on the hour mark with a fine header to ensure the Iranians got off to a winning start.

Former Newcastle Jets star Griffiths left his mark early in the 2nd half with a beautiful strike to give Beijing Guoan a well deserved victory.

Griffiths controlled a low cross from the right and beat goalkeeper Mitch Langerak with a low shot.

The goal followed a period when of domination from the Vhinese outfit who were playing at home in freezing conditions. Earlier on Victory’s Tom Pondeljak had brought the best out of goalkeeper Yang Zhi with a rising shot that was destined for the corner of the net.

Melbourne Victory pressed forward after falling behind but couldn’t develop any clear chances for goal.

Korea Republic’s Seongnam Ilhwa beat Japan’s Kawasaki Frontale 2-0 in the other group match.

ADELAIDE UNITED (AUS) vs POHANG STEELERS (KOR) (FT’) (1:0)
SANFRECCE HIROSHIMA (JPN) vs SHANDONG LUNENG FC (CHN) (FT’) (0:1)
SUWON SAMSUNG BLUEWINGS (KOR) vs GAMBA OSAKA (JPN) (FT’) (0:0)
HENAN JIANYE (CHN) vs SINGAPORE ARMED FORCES (SIN) (FT) (0:0)
AL AIN (UAE) vs PAKHTAKOR (UZB) (FT) (0:1)
AL SHABAB (KSA) vs FOOLAD MOBAREKEH SEPAHAN (IRN) (FT) (1:1)
AL SADD (QAT) vs AL HILAL (KSA) (FT) (0:3)
MES KERMAN (IRN) vs AL AHLI (UAE) (FT) (4:2)

KASHIMA ANTLERS (JPN) vs CHANGCHUN YATAI FC (CHN) (FT’) (1 : 0)
SEONGNAM ILHWA FC (KOR) vs KAWASAKI FRONTALE (JPN) (FT’) (2 : 0)
BUNYODKOR (UZB) vs AL ITTIHAD (KSA) (FT’) (3 : 0)
BEIJING GUOAN (CHN) vs MELBOURNE VICTORY (AUS) (FT’) (1 : 0)
PERSIPURA JAYAPURA (IDN) vs JEONBUK MOTORS (KOR) (FT’) (1 : 4)
AL JAZIRA (UAE) vs AL GHARAFA (QAT) (FT’) (1 : 2)
AL AHLI (KSA) vs ESTEGHLAL (IRN) (FT’) (0 : 2)
ZOBAHAN (IRN) vs AL WAHDA (UAE) (FT’) (1 : 0)

• Kashima (JPN) – finished top of the J League in 2009. Will enter this group as the favourite based on that performance. Last year they bowed out in the round of 16 and I am sure looking to go one better this year.
• Jeonbuk (KOR) – K League winners in 2009, Jeonbuk would also be a serious contender this year and another favourite to progress from Group F. They didn’t feature last year so will surely be eager to make a good impression in the 2010 ACL.
• Persipura (IDN) – currently sitting 2nd in the Indonesian Super League, so another team in good form, although they are 9 points behind the league leaders. Didn’t feature last year so will be eager to make a good impression.
• Changchun (CHN) – came 2nd in the Chinese Super League in 2009 so another team in fine form alsthough it will be interesting to see how they perform given season 2010 is yet to start.

Group F March Day 1 features:
PERSIPURA JAYAPURA (IDN) vs JEONBUK MOTORS (KOR) – Clearly Jeonbuk is a favourite to win away. I would expect by a few goals.
KASHIMA ANTLERS (JPN) vs CHANGCHUN YATAI FC (CHN) – Both teams are yet to begin their 2010 seasons so pre-season form will be a key factor. I am picking Kashima to win at home by one or two goals.