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 1 point and play their final group game away to Henan. Suwon host Singapore Armed Forces in a game they will be expected to win convincingly.

Singapore Armed Forces 2-1 Henan Construction

Singapore Armed Forces won their first AFC Champions League game last night, beating Henan Construction by 2 – 1. This leaves the Chinese Super League side propping up the table with one match remaining.

Daniel Bennett’s 66th minute strike was equalised by Le Yu six minutes later but Erwan Gunawan Suherman assured Singapore’s first win with 12 minutes to go.

Group H

Pohang Steelers 0-0 Adelaide United

Pohang Steelers and Adelaide United have both progressed through to the next round at the expense of Sanfrecce Hiroshima and Shandong Luneng, by sharing the points with a 0 – 0 draw.

Adelaide lead by goal difference and host Shandong on matchday 6. Pohnag are away to Sanfrecce Hiroshima.

Shandong Luneng 2-3 Sanfrecce Hiroshima

A thrilling second-half, which saw four goals scored, left Sanfrecce Hiroshima the eventual winner but it was all in vain as Adelaide and Pohang secured the top two spots in the group.

Shandong took the lead through a Peng Han penalty on the 45 minute mark before Koji Morisaki levelled for Sanfrecce in the 75th minute. Sanfrecce made it 2 – 1 five minutes later thanks to Tadanari Lee but Shandong battled back to level five minutes from time thanks to Fred Benson. Lee was to have the last say though as he scored on the stroke of full time.

Group C

Pakhtakor Tashkent 3-2 Al-Ain

Pakhtakor needed a win over Al-Ain of UAE to all but guarantee their qualification to the second round. It didn’t however start that favourably when Jorge Valdivia gave Al Ain the lead after just three minutes with a trademark free kick.

Odil Ahmedov was left unmarked to head home an equaliser for Pakhtakor just six minutes later. Three minutes later Ahmedov put Pakhtakor ahead with an excellent finish. A frantic opening 20 minutes to the second half ended with an equaliser via an own goal from Ilhomjon Suyunov. Ahmedov then completed the scoring, and his hat-trick, on 28 minutes from close range.

Sepahan 1-0 Al Shabab

Iran’s Sepahan knew a win was needed to stay alive in Group C, while a victory for Shabab would see them seal their path into the second round.

It was the home side who grabbed the only goal of the game to bag three vital points. Midfielder Ahmad Jamshidian’s tenth minute strike was enough to take Sepahan to the verge of qualification.

Group D

Al Ahli 2-1 Mes Kerman

Five time UAE League champions Al Ahli have endured a pretty miserable ACL campaign so far this season. Their victory over Mes Kerman probably won’t be enough to take them into the second round, although mathematical they still have hope.

Things started well for the home side when Farzad Hosseinkhani put through his own net to gift the Dubai based club the lead after just three minutes. Mehdi Rajabzadeh’s 75th minute equaliser looked to have condemned Al Ahli to elimination, but Ahmad Khalil’s 83rd minute penalty leaves them with a slim chance of second round qualification going into their final group game with Al Sadd on matchday 6.

Al Hilal 0-0 Al Sadd

Al Hilal lead group D with ten points from four games and a win would be enough to see them progress to the next round.

Despite the home side being unable to break down the 11-time Qatari League champions, the goalless draw confirmed Hilal’s qualification for the second round while Sadd know that a home win over Al Ahli on matchday 6 will be enough to secure their progression.