ACL QF (2nd leg): Lekhwiya 1-4 Guangzhou E. (1-6 agg.)
Doha:Two goals in two first half minutes effectively sealed Guangzhou Evergrande’s passage to the semi-finals of the AFC Champions League as Marcello Lippi’s side completed a 6-1 aggregate win with a comprehensive 4-1 success over Lekhwiya on Wednesday.
Dario Conca and Elkeson – who both also struck in the first leg in Guangzhou in August – scored in the 14th and 16th minutes to end the game as a contest and ensure Guangzhou become the first Chinese semi-finalists in the AFC Champions League since Shenzhen Jianlibao in 2005.
Muriqui (Luiz Guilherme da Conceição Silva) added a third to claim his tournament-leading ninth goal of the campaign in the 31st minute as Guangzhou showed their class in the opening half before Nam Tae-hee netted a consolation for the home side five minutes into the second period and Elkeson (Elkeson de Oliveira Cardoso) claimed his second – and his side’s fourth – in the 72nd minute.
Guangzhou had few problems against a Lekhwiya side that struggled to match the quality of the Chinese side’s South American front three and Lippi’s team will go into next week’s semi-final in a confident frame of mind after a commanding performance.
A foul on Elkeson close to the touchline on the left side of the Lekhwiya penalty are in the 14th minute put the home team on the defensive and, as Conca sent a low, left-footed effort curling towards goal, the ball was missed by everyone before finding its way into the back of the net.
Muriqui (Luiz Guilherme da Conceição Silva) added a third to claim his tournament-leading ninth goal of the campaign in the 31st minute as Guangzhou showed their class in the opening half before Nam Tae-hee netted a consolation for the home side five minutes into the second period and Elkeson (Elkeson de Oliveira Cardoso) claimed his second – and his side’s fourth – in the 72nd minute.
Guangzhou had few problems against a Lekhwiya side that struggled to match the quality of the Chinese side’s South American front three and Lippi’s team will go into next week’s semi-final in a confident frame of mind after a commanding performance.
A foul on Elkeson close to the touchline on the left side of the Lekhwiya penalty are in the 14th minute put the home team on the defensive and, as Conca sent a low, left-footed effort curling towards goal, the ball was missed by everyone before finding its way into the back of the net.
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ACL QF (2nd leg): Buriram Utd 1-2 Esteghlal (1-3 agg.)
Buriram: Hanif Omranzadeh and Andranik Teymourian scored in the second half as Iran champions Esteghlal advanced to the semi-finals of the AFC Champions League 3-1 on aggregate after recording a 2-1 comeback win over Thailand’s Buriram United in Wednesday’s second leg.
A 38th minute header from Buriram defender Osmar Barba had cancelled out Esteghlal’s slender one-goal advantage from last month’s first leg in Tehran.
But after Omranzadeh bundled home at the start of the second half at Buriram Stadium, Teymourian sealed Esteghlal’s passage with a spectacular long-range strike in stoppage time as the two-time Asian Club Championship winners remained oncourse to add to the titles won in 1970 and 1991 and join Korea Republic’s Pohang Steelers as the only three-time continental champions.
With the match being played amid a carnival atmosphere created by the energetic home support, Esteghlal midfielder Teymourian created the first effort on goal after just five minutes as his rising half volley from the edge of the Buriram area was comfortably dealt with goalkeeper Siwarak Tedsungnoen.
Buriram, though, remained the more adventurous of the two as the home side looked to quickly wipe out their one-goal deficit from the first leg, but Alejandro Menendez’s charges struggled to convert several seemingly promising opportunities into an effort on goal.
But after Omranzadeh bundled home at the start of the second half at Buriram Stadium, Teymourian sealed Esteghlal’s passage with a spectacular long-range strike in stoppage time as the two-time Asian Club Championship winners remained oncourse to add to the titles won in 1970 and 1991 and join Korea Republic’s Pohang Steelers as the only three-time continental champions.
With the match being played amid a carnival atmosphere created by the energetic home support, Esteghlal midfielder Teymourian created the first effort on goal after just five minutes as his rising half volley from the edge of the Buriram area was comfortably dealt with goalkeeper Siwarak Tedsungnoen.
Buriram, though, remained the more adventurous of the two as the home side looked to quickly wipe out their one-goal deficit from the first leg, but Alejandro Menendez’s charges struggled to convert several seemingly promising opportunities into an effort on goal.
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ACL QF (2nd leg): Al Shabab 2-2 Kashiwa (3-3 agg.)
Riyadh: A second-half header by Naoya Kondo proved decisive as Kashiwa Reysol became the first Japanese club since 2009 to reach the AFC Champions League semi-finals when they defeated Saudi Arabia’s Al Shabab on away goals on Wednesday.
The central defender met Jorge Wagner’s corner in the 73rd minute to give his side a 2-1 lead at the King Fahd International Stadium.
And although the home side levelled the score at 2-2 through Hassan Muath in the closing minutes, it was not enough to prevent Kashiwa from progressing to a last four meeting with Chinese champions Guangzhou Evergrande.
Naif Hazazi had put the hosts ahead with a powerful header in the 10th minute but the visitors quickly got back on level terms as Kwak Tae-hwi headed a Ryiochi Kurisawa cross into his own net just three minutes later.
Having played out a lively 1-1 draw in rainy Japan last month, both sides quickly got into their stride in Riyadh with neither willing to sit back in the opening minutes.
Al Shabab had the advantage of an away goal from the first leg and to the delight of their home fans, they took the aggregate lead after 10 minutes when Macnelly Torres’ corner from the right picked out Hazazi, who got between a pair of defender to meet the ball with a bullet header that flew past a helpless Takanori Sugeno into the right corner of the net.
And although the home side levelled the score at 2-2 through Hassan Muath in the closing minutes, it was not enough to prevent Kashiwa from progressing to a last four meeting with Chinese champions Guangzhou Evergrande.
Naif Hazazi had put the hosts ahead with a powerful header in the 10th minute but the visitors quickly got back on level terms as Kwak Tae-hwi headed a Ryiochi Kurisawa cross into his own net just three minutes later.
Having played out a lively 1-1 draw in rainy Japan last month, both sides quickly got into their stride in Riyadh with neither willing to sit back in the opening minutes.
Al Shabab had the advantage of an away goal from the first leg and to the delight of their home fans, they took the aggregate lead after 10 minutes when Macnelly Torres’ corner from the right picked out Hazazi, who got between a pair of defender to meet the ball with a bullet header that flew past a helpless Takanori Sugeno into the right corner of the net.
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ACL QF (2nd leg): FC Seoul 1-0 Al Ahli (2-1 agg.)
Seoul: A late strike from Dejan Damjanovic gave FC Seoul a 1-0 victory over Al Ahli in the second leg of the 2013 AFC Champions League quarter-final on Wednesday at Seoul World Cup Stadium and put the Korea Republic champions in the semi-final for the first time in their history with a 2-1 aggregate win.
The Montenegrin international striker, who spent a season with Al Ahli in 2006, netted the away goal in the 1-1 draw in Jeddah in the first leg in August and struck with just a minute of time remaining at Seoul World Cup Stadium.
The game was tight and tense but Seoul had the lion’s share of chances with the visitors, finalists in 2012, struggling to create clear openings.
Aware of the hosts’ away goal advantage, Al Ahli started with ambition and aggression but after the opening few minutes, Seoul started to look dangerous, especially from a succession of corner kicks and free-kicks.
However, Kim Jin-gyu heading over from a Mauricio Molina cross was as close as the K-League Classic team came in the early exchanges.
The first clear opening came the way of the visitors in the 26th minute. Mustafa Al Bassas collected the ball just outside the area, turned past his marker and shot wide of Kim Yong-dae's right-hand post from 15 yards.
Seoul came closer seven minutes before the break. Cha Du-ri stormed into the box from the right-back position and the 2002 FIFA World Cup star managed to hit a floated cross from Molina over goalkeeper Abdullah Al Muaiouf, only to see the ball bounce back off the crossbar and cleared to safety.
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