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The group stage of the 2013 AFC Champions League has finally wrapped up with half of the 32 teams advancing to the next stage and the other half pondering about what went wrong. There were quite a lot of upsets and surprises – some of the teams expected to sail through ended up licking their wounds, while a number of underdogs punched above their weight to qualify for the knockout round. Here is a roundup of all the action on the final matchday of the group stages :
Group A
Ibrahim Diaky’s first-half opener was cancelled out as second-half goals from Nasser Al-Shamrani and Bader al-Sulaiteen gave Saudi Arabia’s Al Shabab a 2-1 win at home over Al-Jazira of the UAE. The win meant Al-Shabab topped the group, two points clear of Qatar’s Al- Jaish, who defeated hosts Tractor Sazi 4-2, with goals coming from Alsyed Dokali, Abdel Qader Elyas and Seul-Ki Go. Brazilian star Geilson scored both goals for the Iranian team. With this win, Al-Jaish qualified for the knockout stages in their debut season.
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Group B
Lekhwiya eased through to the Round of 16 with a 2-0 win over Saudi’s Al-Ettifaq, with Luis Martin Junior and Khaled Muftah scoring for the home side. Lehwiya go through as Group B winners followed by UAE’s Al-Shabab, who edged Uzbek side Pakhtakor 2-1 in Tashkent. Esam Dahi took the lead for the visitors in the very first minute only for Makharadze Kakhi equalize from the spot for Pakhtakor. Kakhi then turned villain, putting the ball into his own net, thus gifting Al-Shabab the winner.
Group C
The two qualifying spots in Group C had already been decided; so the two matches on Matchday 6 were dead rubbers. In Jeddah, Al Ahli took top spot after a 2-2 draw with UAE’s Al Nasr. Waleed Bakshwin scored from the spot to give Al Ahli the lead in the 7th minute before Al Nasr replied with a penalty of their own, dispatched by Leonardo Da Silva. Nasr then went ahead with a goal by Rashid Malallah, only to be denied their first three points when Teyseer al Jassim equalised for the Saudis. In Iran, Sepahan took revenge on Al-Gharafa for their earlier defeat by thrashing them 3-1, with goals by Jahnalian, Gholami and Khalatbari. Majdi Siddiq got the only goal for Al Gharafa. Gharafa finish second, four points behind Al Ahli.
Group D
UAE’s Al Ain met Iranian side Esteghlal at home, desperately needing a win by a large margin to qualify for the Round of 16, whereas Esteghlal had already confirmed their spot. In the end, an 81st minute penalty scored by Javad Nekounam put matters beyond doubt. Esteghlal topped the group and Al Ain finished third. In Doha, giants Al-Hilal needed only a draw to qualify but they achieved more than that, scoring two late goals in the match to overcome already-knocked-out Al Rayyan. Nawwaf al-Abed and Saad al-Haarthi got the goals.
Group E
At the Seoul World Cup Stadium, FC Seoul took the lead twice through Seong-Yong Jung and Hyun-Sung Kim, but Thailand’s Buriram United equalised in the space of a minute on both occasions through Ekkachai Sumrela and Theerathon Bunmathan. Carmelo Gonzales had earlier missed a penalty for Buriram with the score at 0-0. The match ended 2-2 and Buriram became the first Thai team to reach the knockout stages since the BEC Tero Sasana side of 2003. Over in Japan, Vegalta Sendai lost out 1-2 to visitors Jiangsu Sainty of China. Sugai took the lead for the home side but Liu Jianye and Hamdi Salihi scored to give Jiangsu the three points. The win, however, was not enough for them to get to the Round of 16 as Buriram edged them out on a better goal difference. Seoul had earlier confirmed their top spot on Matchday 5.
Group F
Japanese side Urawa Reds ended their campaign with a 1-0 win away to Muangthong United of Thailand. Daisuke Nasu got the lone goal. Muangthong finished bottom of the group without a single win. Urawa finished level on points with Jeonbouk, but lost out on goal difference. In the other Group F match, Brazilian striker Muriqui could not add to his six goals as his Guangzhou Evergrande team played out a goalless stalemate with 2006 champions Jeonbuk Hyundai. Marcelo Lippi-coached Guangzhou top the group, one point ahead of Jeonbuk.
Group G
In South Korea, visitors Bunyodkor took the lead in the 79th minute through Oleksandr Pyschur, only for Park Sung-Ho to strike in the 93rd minute to salvage a draw for his Pohang Steelers team. The point did not help the Steelers though, as they needed to win the match to have any chance of qualifying. Bunyodkor top the group, one point ahead of Chinese side Beijing Guoan, who drew 0-0 away to Sanfrecce Hiroshima.
Group H
Kashiwa Reysol, who had ensured qualification on Matchday 5, finished their group stage campaign with a 3-0 win away to Australia’s Central Coast Mariners, with Masato Kudo, Cleo and Leandro Domingues scoring the goals – all of which came in the second half. Despite the loss, the Mariners finished second and qualified for the knockout stages for the first time in their history. In the other Group H match, Guizhou Renhe drew 2-2 with Suwon Samsung Bluewings in Guiyang. Facing a must-win situation, Guizhou went behind when Lee Jong-Min scored for the South Koreans. Ex-Man City defender Sun Jihai equalised for Guizhou only for Kwon Chang-Hoon to put Suwon back in the lead ten minutes later. The Chinese side equalised again through Zhang Chenglin in the 86th minute but couldn’t find the elusive winner before the final whistle.
Here are the final group standings after Matchday 6 : (Read as Team, Matches Played, , Points)
