Koroki late show leaves Guangzhou winless in ACL
Print Edition
SHINZO Koroki’s late strike kept holder Guangzhou Evergrande rooted to the bottom of its AFC Champions League group after a 2-2 draw with Urawa Red Diamonds yesterday.
Luiz Felipe Scolari’s moneybags Chinese champion had looked odds-on for the first win of its campaign after an early double from Brazilian playmaker Ricardo Goulart.
But a Zeng Cheng goalkeeping howler gifted Urawa its first goal on the half-hour, before Koroki struck in the 89th minute to snatch a point for the Japanese side.
The result leaves Evergrande bottom of Group H with just two points at the halfway stage and with work to do if it is to reach the knockout rounds.
Sydney FC leapfrogged Pohang Steelers at the top of the group with a 1-0 away win over the South Korean side thanks to Chris Naumoff’s 42nd-minute winner.
Elsewhere, in Group F, Brazilian scoring machine Adriano reached nine goals in just three games with a brace in FC Seoul’s 4-1 win over China’s Shandong Luneng.
Takuma Asano scored twice as J-League champion Sanfrecce Hiroshima beat Thailand’s Buriram United 3-0 to pick up its first win in the same group.
In Guangzhou, Goulart opened the scoring from the penalty spot after just six minutes, and he doubled Evergrande’s advantage from close range eight minutes later.
But a comedic moment from Zeng allowed Urawa to pull one back when the goalkeeper bungled a punch from a corner and Yuki Muto scrambled the loose ball over the line.
Evergrande’s record signing Jackson Martinez was among those to go close in an open game, but it was Urawa which had the final say as Koroki buried his shot when teed up by Zlatan Ljubijankic’s lay-off.
It was another unproductive night for China’s big-spending clubs as Shandong was floored by a second-half blitz from free-scoring FC Seoul.
Adriano grabbed the opener in the 27th as the visitors took control, only for Shandong’s Jucilei to equalize against the run of play on 62 minutes.
But Shandong’s goal drew the most emphatic of responses from FC Seoul, which was back in front in just three minutes and 4-1 ahead six minutes after that. Go Yo-han restored Seoul’s lead, before Dejan Damjanovic put it further ahead and Adriano finished a sublime team move which sliced through Shandong’s shaky defense.
- About Us
- |
- Terms of Use
- |
-
RSS - |
- Privacy Policy
- |
- Contact Us
- |
- Shanghai Call Center: 962288
- |
- Tip-off hotline: 52920043
- 沪ICP证：沪ICP备05050403号-1
- |
- 互联网新闻信息服务许可证：31120180004
- |
- 网络视听许可证：0909346
- |
- 广播电视节目制作许可证：沪字第354号
- |
- 增值电信业务经营许可证：沪B2-20120012
Copyright © 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.
