Vissel Kobe punished Gwangju as leaders of the AFC Champions League group

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ADDS late game

Domestic defending champions Vissel Kobe beat South Korea’s Gwangju FC 2-0 at the top of the elite group stage of the Asian Champions League on Tuesday – a good night for Japanese teams.

Meanwhile, Kawasaki Frontale scored three first-half goals at home to secure a 3-1 win over newly crowned Chinese champions Shanghai Port.

Akihiro Ienaga, Yusuke Segawa and Sai van Wermeskerken got on the scoresheet.

Matias Vargas picked up the consolation for Port, who beat rivals Shanghai Shenhua by a point to win the Chinese Super League on Saturday.

In Kobe, the hosts and J. League champions took the lead in first-half stoppage time when Taisei Miyashiro sank his penalty after a handball in the penalty area.

Nine minutes after the break, Daiju Sasaki pounced with a header from close range to make it 2-0 for the hosts.

The deserved victory puts Vissel at the top of the twelve teams in the east zone of Asia’s most important club competition with three wins and one draw.

With the group stage halfway through, Gwangju dropped to second place.

Malaysia’s Johor Darul Ta’zim moved to third place with a 3-0 home win over South Korea’s Ulsan, who are in last place without a point.

The top eight advance to the next phase.

The Central Coast Mariners scored in stoppage time to earn a 2-2 draw at home against Shanghai Shenhua.

After four games, the Australians finally got a point in the group stage.

They did it in the most dramatic fashion when Bailey Brandtman scored the winner in the 95th minute after the hosts trailed 2-0.

Shenhua, supported by almost 1,000 away fans in Gosford, took the lead five minutes after half-time through Brazilian Andre Luis.

Substitute Yu Hanchao flicked the ball into the same bottom corner to make it 2-0.

With 15 minutes left, Sabit Ngor beat the Shenhua goalkeeper to make it 2-1 before Brandtman popped up in the final minute to give the Australians a point.

That left Shenhua fourth in the group, ahead of Buriram United – who have played a game less – and Kawasaki. The Mariners are one of the bottom teams.

In the West Zone, Cristiano Ronaldo’s Al Nassr face defending champions Al Ain of the United Arab Emirates in the biggest game of the day in Riyadh.

shh/ssy