Australian teams had a mixed showing as the Asian Champions League kicked off on Tuesday.
A-League champions Brisbane Roar failed to make home advantage pay, losing 2-0 to FC Tokyo, but Adelaide United pulled off a 2-1 win against Uzbek champions Bunyodkor in Tashkent.
Meanwhile, South Korea’s Pohang Steelers trounced Japan’s Gamba Osaka by three goals to nothing away from home, while another South Korea side, Ulsan Hyundai, claimed a 2-1 victory against Beijing Guoan.
Japan’s FC Tokyo opened their maiden ACL campaign by upsetting Brisbane Roar.
The home side dominated possession but were undone by the faster and more clinical FC Tokyo who scored through Yazawa Tatsuya in first half injury time and Hasegawa Ariajasuru 10 minutes after half-time.
“I am very proud of my guys because they demonstrated the Japanese potential. We played very smart and we were always one step ahead,” said Tokyo’s Serbian coach Ranko Popovic.
Adelaide United beat Uzbek champions Bunyodkor 2-1 in Tashkent with Nigel Boogard heading home from a corner in the first half and Antony Golec scoring from a counterattack in the second.
Kamoliddin Murzoev pulled one back in stoppage time for Bunyodkor but by then the Group E contest was already beyond reach.
And in the other Group F match, two first half goals for Ulsan Hyundai – including a 25-yard strike from midfielder Ko Seul-Ki – were enough for victory over Beijing Guoan.
“It was our first home match this year and the players produced their best performance,” said Ulsan coach Kim Ho-Gon, who saw his side beat the Steelers 1-0 in their K-League opener on Saturday.
The Steelers took the lead in the Group E clash in the 19th minute when Kim Tae-Su stooped in the six-yard box to head home a cross from Shin Kwang-Hoon.
And the 2009 champions went another goal up three minutes later after goalkeeper Yosuke Fujigaya’s attempt to punch the ball clear ricocheted off the head of Pohang’s Serbian defender Zoran Rendulic into the back of the net.
Derek Asamoah chipped in a third goal in the 76th minute to inflict Gamba’s heaviest Champions League home defeat.
“We played a wonderful game against a wonderful side,” said Pohang head coach Hwang Sun-Hong. “Our players did according to what we had planned for today. But we still had to move to achieve our objective.”
Gamba’s new coach, Brazilian Jose Carlos Serrao, apologised to fans for the loss, which leaves the 2008 champions playing catch-up.
“If we had won this opening game today, we could have made a good start and would have taken the upper hand to get through the group stage,” he said. “This is a big loss for us and this means that we have to win away to qualify for the next stage.”
The Asian Champions League has eight groups of four teams with the top two in each qualifying for the knock-out stage, which starts in May.
