Japan's Kawasaki Frontale rubbed salt in Melbourne Victory's wounds in the AFC Champions League on Tuesday while Korea's Seongnam Ilhwa came from a goal down to beat Beijing Guoan. Melbourne went into the Group E game demoralised after their agonising 4-2 penalty shootout defeat to Sydney FC in the A-League grand final on Saturday, and they were never in the hunt.
Masaru Kurotsu made it 2-0 nine minutes later with a powerful header, then Renatinho lashed home a third from the edge of the area. The win was Kawasaki's first in their three Champions League games and kept them in the race for a place in the last 16. Seongnam remain top of the group after a dramatic 3-1 victory over Beijing.
The Chinese champions were heading for glory thanks to a first-half strike from former Scotland international Maurice Ross but they lost their focus and conceded three goals in the final 12 minutes. In Group G, Japanese powerhouse Gamba Osaka beat a plucky Singapore's Armed Forces 4-2, with Shoki Hirai bagging a hat-trick.
Elsewhere, two-time semi-finalists Pakhtakor of Uzbekistan bounced back from their loss to Saudi Arabia's Al Shabab two weeks ago by beating 2007 finalists Sepahan 2-1 in Tashkent. Artur Gevorkyan and Alexander Geynrikh got on the scoresheet for the hosts while Ahmad Jamshidian found the net for Sepahan. Qatar's Al Gharafa lead the group with six points and play second-placed Esteghlal of Iran, who are also unbeaten.
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