The first half of Matchday 5 fixtures for the 2014 AFC Asian Champions League took place around Asia last night.
Australia club Melbourne Victory kept their hopes of progressing to the knockout stages alive by producing a 2-0 victory over reigning champions Guangzhou Evergrande at the Etihad Stadium.
An early goal from Mark Milligan and an injury-time finish from James Troisi, who is on loan from Atalanta, allowed the Victory to join both Jeonbuk Hyundai and Evergrande on seven points in Group G.
Also on seven points, in one of the tightest groups on the ACL, is Yokohama F. Marinos who came from behind to beat Korea's Jeonbuk 2-1 in Japan thanks to a brace from Manabu Saito.
In Group H, A-League's Western Sydney Wanderers went to the top of the pile after beating K-League outfit Ulsan Hyundai 2-0 thanks to second-half goals from Mark Bridge and Brendon Santalab.
Japan's Kawasaki Frontale moved into second spot after beating Guizhou Renhe 1-0 in China with Kengo Nakamura netting the only goal of the contest.
Asamoah Gyan took his tally to seven goals in Asia as UAE outfit Al-Ain hammered Qatar's Lekhwiya 5-0 in Doha. The former Sunderland striker scored twice while Diaky Ibrahim, Aussie Alex Brosque and Mohamed Abdulrahman also hit the target.
Group C leaders Al-Ain are now through to the knockout phase where they will be joined by Saudi Arabia's Al-Ittihad who accounted for Iranian side Tractor Sazi 2-0.
And in Group D, Mehdi Sharifi scored twice as Iran's Sepahan comfortably defeated Qatar's Al Sadd 4-0 as UAE's Al-Ahli and Saudi Arabian club Al-Hilal played out a -0- draw.
