By Michael Church
HONG KONG (Reuters) – Talking points from the week in Asian football:
STRUGGLING PORT SLIP UP, SHANDONG CLOSE THE GAP
Chinese Super League leaders Shanghai Port capped a miserable week with a 3-1 loss to Henan FC on Friday, with Shandong Taishan cutting the deficit to nine points with their 2-1 victory over Shenzhen FC.
Port, who missed out on a place in the Asian Champions League with a 3-2 loss to BG Pathum United on Tuesday, have now gone four games without a win.
Shandong trailed to Shahsat Hujahmat’s sixth-minute opener and looked headed for defeat until Cryzan struck twice in the last 10 minutes to snatch the points.
DERBY DAY THRASHING SEES MARINOS’ LEAD CUT TO ONE IN JAPAN
Defending champions Yokohama F Marinos were thrashed 4-1 by local rivals Yokohama FC on Saturday as their lead over Vissel Kobe was reduced to a single point.
Kobe missed the opportunity to go top when they were held 2-2 draw by FC Tokyo while third placed Nagoya Grampus lost 3-1 at Cerezo Osaka.
An early Anderson Lopes header gave Marinos the lead before Kotaro Hiyashi equalised from distance in the 36th minute and Sho Ito smashed home in the 52nd minute to give Yokohama the lead. An Eduardo own goal and an injury-time effort from Kyohei Yoshino completed the scoring.
AL-ITTIHAD, AL-AHLI MAINTAIN PERFECT SAUDI PRO LEAGUE START
Jeddah-based rivals Al-Ittihad and Al-Ahli have the only perfect records remaining in the Saudi Pro League after wins over Al-Riyadh and Al-Akhdoud took the pair onto nine points from their opening three games.
Karim Benzema was on target as Al-Ittihad cruised to a 4-0 victory while Al-Ahli needed an added time goal from Franck Kessie to win 1-0.
Al-Hilal, two points further back in third, beat Al-Raed 4-0 with Aleksandar Mitrovic opening the scoring.
WILLYAN STRIKES LATE TO GIVE FC SEOUL DRAW WITH ULSAN
Brazilian striker Willyan scored seven minutes into added time to earn FC Seoul a 2-2 draw with leaders Ulsan Hyundai less than a week after head coach An Ik-soo quit the club due to a poor run of results.
Hosts Seoul had taken an early lead through Stanislav Iljutcenko before Joo Min-kyu scored twice in four second-half minutes to put Ulsan ahead.
The game was Kim Jin-kyu’s first as caretaker coach following An’s resignation in the aftermath of Seoul’s 2-2 draw with Daegu FC last weekend.
Defending champions Ulsan are 11 points clear of Pohang Steelers, who were held 1-1 by Gangwon FC.
AL-NASSR TO FACE PERSEPOLIS IN ASIAN CHAMPIONS LEAGUE OPENER
Cristiano Ronaldo’s Al-Nassr will kick off their Asian Champions League group stage challenge in Tehran against Iran’s Persepolis next month while title holders Urawa Red Diamonds will take on Chinese champions Wuhan Three Towns.
Al-Nassr, who had to qualify through the playoffs, will also play Qatar’s Al-Duhail and FC Istiklol from Tajikistan in Group E.
Japan’s Urawa will also face 2021 runners-up Pohang Steelers and Vietnam’s Hanoi FC in Group J.
Four-time winners Al-Hilal, who signed Neymar from Paris Saint-Germain earlier this month, start their Group D campaign against Navbahor of Uzbekistan before facing Iran’s FC Nassaji Mazandaran and Mumbai City from India.
The group phase of the competition kicks off on Sept. 18.
(Reporting by Michael Church, Editing by Peter Rutherford)
