Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Champions League 2017 saw Groups G & H played their first round of fixtures on Wednesday with eight teams getting their campaign to be crowned the best club in Asia underway.
The biggest result of the night was the brutal demolition of Hong Kong’s Eastern SC at the hands of Chinese Super League (CSL) outfit Guangzhou Evergrande in what was a good day in general for the Chinese clubs.
Let’s take a peek at the action that transpired on Wednesday in Asia’s premier club football tournament.
GROUP G:
Guangzhou Evergrande (CHI) 7-0 Eastern SC (HK) [Goulart 4’ Shangyan 22’, 84’ Lisheng 33’, 47’ Alan 65’ Paulinho 82’]
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2015 Champions Guangzhou Evergrande started their Group G campaign with a brutal 7-0 dismantling of newcomers Eastern SC from Hong Kong in Guangzhou.
The Luiz Felipe Scolari-coached team were head and shoulders above the team from Hong Kong which was making its first-ever appearance at this stage. Eastern SC, whose coach Chan Yuen-ting became the first female to lead a men’s team in a continental competition, conceded in the fouth minute itself when Ricardo Goulat dispatched a penalty given after Wong Tsz-ho was dismissed for a handball. Wang Shangyan then turned in a corner in the 22nd minute before Guangzhou’s Brazilian forward Alan missed a penalty.
ACL 2017: Roundup from Tuesday
Liao Lenshang then added a third before the night went from bad to worse for Eastern when Wong Chi-chung was sent off in the 34th minute. Lenshang grabbed a brace immediately after the restart before Alan scored the fifth with a peach of a goal, curling in a sumptuous shot from 20 yards out.
Former Tottenham midfielder Paulinho then joined in the fun by dribbling past two players and slotting in at the far corner in the 82nd minute. The hapless Eastern players’ night came to an end after Wang Shangyan added the seventh goal in the 84th minute.
Kawasaki Frontale (JAP) 1-1 Suwon Bluewings (KOR) [Kobayashi 11’ - Taniguchi(OG) 23’]
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Japanese outfit Kawasaki Frontale’s hopes of notching a win in their opening Group G fixture against Suwon Bluewings were scuppered by an own goal in a tightly-contested fixture in Kawasaki.
Kawasaki raced into the lead in the 11th minute through captain Yu Kobayashi who chested in a volleyed pass across the face of the goal from Kengo Nakamura. But two-time Asian champions Suwon Bluewings equalised 12 minutes later fortuitously when Ki-Hyun’s cut back was cleared by Kawasaki defender Kurumaya onto the shin of Taniguchi who was helpless to prevent the ricochet from finding the back of the net.
Both sides could not fashion a winner and had to settle for a share of the spoils.
GROUP H:
Jeju United (KOR) 0-1 Jiangsu Suning (CHI) [Ramires 90’]
A dramatic late winner from former Chelsea midfielder Ramires ensured that Chinese outfit Jiangsu Suning grabbed all three points away to Jeju United.
It was more of a smash and grab performance by the Chinese team who were dominated by the hosts in the opening half of the fixture, with Lee Chang-Min heading against the post seven minutes before half-time. Shortly after the restart, Jeju’s Brazilian forward Marcelo Toscano struck the post and just as the game looked to be heading towards a goalless draw, Jiangsu struck.
A free-kick into the Jeju box was not cleared properly and the ball fell to Ramires who lashed a low effort into the bottom right corner to break the hearts of the South Korean side.
Adelaide United (AUS) 0-3 Gamba Osaka (JAP) [Nagasawa 21’ Konno 45+1’ McGowan (OG) 81’]
2008 winners Gamba Osaka got off to a perfect start in Group H by easing past A-League side Adelaide United 3-0 in Adelaide.
Incidentally, this game was a repeat of the 2008 final which finished 5-0 in favour of the Japanese side. The result on Wednesday was not any different with Gamba taking the lead in the 21st minute when Shun Nagasawa headed a brilliant cross from Oh Jae-Suk from the right wing.
Yasuyuki Konno doubled the lead in first-half injury time after a scintillating counter which saw the Adelaide defenders block Ideguchi’s effort only for Konno to slam the rebound home.
A miserable night for Adelaide United was personified by Dylan McGowan, who saw a free-kick ricochet off him and into the goal after the goalkeeper missed a routine catch.