AFC Champions League quarterfinal first leg : Guangzhou and Esteghlal win

Iran’s Esteghlal player Khosro Heidari kicks the ball during their AFC Champions League quarter-final football match against Thailand’s Buriram United at the Azadi stadium in Tehran

Chinese Super League side Guangzhou Evergrande took a big step towards the semi-finals of the AFC Champions League after they defeated Qatar’s Lekhwiya 2-0 at home, in the first leg of their quarterfinal tie. Evergrande, coached by the World Cup-winning Marcelo Lippi, needed two goals in the space of five second-half minutes to break open Lekhwiya’s defence.

Dario Conca gave them the lead in the 72nd minute with a penalty before Elkeson doubled the score in the 76th. Watched by a capacity crowd of around 58000 fans at the Tianhe Stadium, Lippi’s charges had to toil in order to get a positive result but they will definitely be confident flying into Doha for the return leg next month. Four Lekhwiya players will be walking a tightrope in that fixture, after being booked last night.

Earlier on Wednesday, Japanese club Kashiwa Reysol played out a 1-1 draw with Saudi representative Al-Shabab, in Kashiwa. In the 21st minute, Al-Shabab’s defenders tried to clear the ball after a Leandro free-kick but the ball fell to Kashiwa’s Masato Kudo at the edge of the box, and he rattled home the opener. A couple of minutes before halftime, Al-Shabab equalised in a similar fashion. A clearance fell at the feet of Brazilian veteran Fernando Menegazzo who struck with a cool half-volley finish to make it 1-1 and give his team a precious away goal. In the second leg, Kashiwa will look to better what is already their best-ever performance in Asia, while Al-Shabab, runners-up in 1993, will try not to concede at home and reach the semi-finals for the first time since 2010.

The match had only just kicked off in Tehran’s majestic Azadi Stadium when Esteghlal’s Khosro Heydari sent in a cross from the right – only for the ball to curve and go in over Buriram United’s keeper, surprising everyone on the field. The fortunate goal proved to be the lone goal as Esteghlal held on to register a win at home over their Thai opponents. Buriram United need to pick up on their game if they are to continue on their giant-killing run. If Buriram do improve and also make use of home advantage in the second leg, Esteghlal may well rue not being able to add to the tally yesterday night.

In the boisterous atmosphere at the King Abdulaziz Sport City, Saudi Arabia’s great hope and last year’s runners-up, Al Ahli, salvaged a draw at home against South Korea’s FC Seoul. Montenegrin striker Dejan Damjanovic silenced the home crowd by scoring with an excellent right-footed shot in the 10th minute. Al-Ahli had to wait until ten minutes from full time to get a goal of their own. Just as the fans were starting to get a bit restless, Al-Ahli’s Sultan al-Sawadi popped up to equalize after good work on the left by youngster Mustafa Bassas. Bassas, who was busy all night, created numerous chances for his side to no avail. As of now, FC Seoul seem to have the upper hand going into the second leg in Seoul on September 18th, but Al Ahli have proven to be a hard nut to crack for quite a number of East Asian sides in recent seasons. An exciting encounter is on the cards.

2013 AFC Champions League Quarterfinals 1st Leg :

Kashiwa Reysol 1 (21′ Kudo) – Al-Shabab 1 (44′ Menegazzo)

Guangzhou Evergrande 2 (72′ Conca [p], 76′ Elkeson) – Lekhwiya 0

Esteghlal 1 (2′ Heydari) – Buriram United 0

Al-Ahli 1 (80′ Al-Sawadi) – 1 FC Seoul (10′ Dejan)

2nd leg matches will be played on 18th September.