Guangzhou Evergrande denied victory by late penalty
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — Big-spending Chinese club Guangzhou Evergrande was held to a 1-1 draw in the Asian Champions League on Tuesday after conceding an injury-time penalty against Japanese team Kawasaki Frontale.
Yu Kobayashi scored from the spot five minutes into injury time at Tianhe Stadium after Yu Hanchao had handled in the area.
Guangzhou, the six-time defending Chinese league champions coached by Luiz Felipe Scolari, took the lead in the first half of the Group G match when Brazilian midfielder Alan Carvalho scored from the edge of the area — his third goal in as many ACL games.
"Normally we could score two or three goals to win the match in such an occasion like tonight, but unfortunately we couldn't score even one more goal to clinch the victory," Scolari was quoted as saying by Xinhua.
Guangzhou and Suwon Bluewings each have five points in the group. The South Korean club beat Hong Kong team Eastern SC 1-0.
In a Group E match in Japan, Kashima Antlers beat Brisbane Roar 3-0, leaving the Australian club at the bottom of the standings with one point and a minus-9 goal differential. The three Australian clubs in the tournament have yet to register a win in this year's competition.
Brisbane coach John Aloisi said that despite the score, he felt the Roar played well.
"I thought we were matching them, but when you're playing away from home, you need to be a little bit more ruthless," Aloisi said. "We got into a lot of good positions but we probably didn't create as many chances as we could have."
Thai club Muangthong United continued its impressive form to move into second spot behind Kashima after a 0-0 draw at 2012 Asian champion Ulsan Horangi.
In the western division, Esteghlal Khouzestan drew 1-1 at home in Iran with Lekhwiya of Qatar to maintain top spot in Group B, Al Wahda held Al Hilal to a 2-2 draw at Abu Dhabi — extending the Saudi club's stretch to seven trips to the United Arab Emirates without a win — and Al Fateh beat Al Jazira 3-1.
At Doha, Al Rayyan moved to the top of Group D when it beat Persepolis of Iran 3-1 after Rodrigo Tabata scored twice and set up the other goal.
Group matches continue Wednesday in the east division, with Gamba Osaka hosting Jiangsu, FC Seoul at home to former champion Western Sydney Wanderers and Urawa Red Diamonds traveling to Shanghai SIPG.
