Johor Darul Ta’zim made it back-to-back wins in the AFC Champions League Elite after cruising 3-0 past Port FC at the Sultan Ibrahim Stadium on Tuesday.
Three second-half goals secured JDT their second consecutive win, while Port FC suffered a third straight defeat.
JDT, who were unchanged in their starting lineup from the 2-0 win over Pohang Steelers on Matchday Two, made a positive start with Shahab Zahedi testing Port goalkeeper Michael Falkesgaard from distance in the ninth minute.
The Malaysian side continued to press high with Marcos Guilherme playing Zahedi into the box, only for the Port defence to snuff out the danger, before Arif Aiman’s cross flashed a cross across the face of goal two minutes later.
Port remained rooted under pressure, with Oscar Arribas coming close in the 19th minute, narrowly going wide of the left post from a set-piece situation before Arif pulled a long-range effort just wide.
Falkesgaard had to be resilient just before the half-hour mark when he kept out Arif’s stinging shot from just above the box, before denying the midfiler again in the 41st minute.
Port struggled to contain Arif, who surged through the middle past his marker only to be denied by Falkesgaard’s brilliance as the score remained goalless going into the break.
Arif continued to pull the strings in the second period with the midfielder sending his powerful drive from outside the area just over the bar, with Port going close to snatching the lead moments later.
Bruno attempted to feed the ball back to Peeradol Chamrasamee at the top of the box, but Nacho Mendez’s clearance floated over the sea of players and rattled the bar.
JDT’s persistence was finally rewarded in the 53rd minute after Arif surged down the left channel and floated a pin-point cross to Jonathan Silva to volley home a low finish past Falkesgaard.
Another counter-attacking move saw Xisco Munoz’s side double their lead in the 61st minute after Arribas crossed for substitute Bergson, whose headed attempt took a deflection off Peerawat Akkratum before settling in the back of the net.
Port fell further behind in the 86th minute from another JDT fast break with Marcos Guilherme leading the move down the right, teeing-up Nahuel Leiva who set-up Stoichkov for a fine finish to seal the deserved victory.
Shanghai Port stunned
Cong An Ha Noi FC stunned Shanghai Port FC 3-2 in a thrilling tie on Tuesday.
The Chinese side fought back twice to draw level but it wasn’t enough to deny Vietnam’s Ha Noi the first win of their campaign as they moved to three points, one adrift of their beaten opponents.
It was a fast-paced start to the game as both teams traded attempts as they looked to gain an early advantage.
Pendant Quang Vinh fired a half-volley just over before Doan Van Hau burst into the box after exchanging passes with Perea but was denied by a strong Miguel Campos challenge.
Then it was Shanghai’s turn to pepper Ha Noi’s goal with attempts, Kuai Jiwen drove a low shot outside of the post before Melendo put Prince Ampem through but Nguyen Filip got his glove to the forward’s chip.
Ha Noi produced a clever piece of play in the 35th minute to edge in front, Stefan Mauk finding Leo Artur at the back post who – with keeper Yan Junling charging at him – squared the ball for Perea for a simple tap-in.
The post denied the visitors a second eight minutes later following a fast break with Leo Artur receiving Alan’s pass inside the box only to find the frame of the goal.
That miss came back to haunt Ha Noi in the 44th minute, Prince Ampem’s shot from distance deflecting off Frans Putros and looping over Filip for the equaliser.
Ha Noi came out for the second half in an inspired mood and within four minutes, had restored their lead.
Shanghai were left chasing shadows as Ha Noi went for a quick counter attack, Leo Arthur using the run of Perea as decoy to cut infield and smack a shot that whizzed past Yan and into the bottom corner.
For a second time, the home side fought back to draw level, Campos with a curling free-kick that arrowed into the top corner on the hour mark, leaving Filip with little chance of making a save.
It was parity that only lasted nine minutes, a ball over the top allowed Leo Artur to run past Alex Yang before squaring for Perea to steer home from close range as Ha Noi went in front for the third time in the game.
The drama continued as Shanghai were awarded a penalty after Jiang Guangtai was dragged down by Adou Leygley Minh but Filip went the right way to save Leonardo’s spot-kick in the 77th minute.
The stop, however, was ruled out and a retake was ordered after VAR check spotted Filip coming off his line before the penalty was struck but astonishingly, Shanghai’s second chance was also spurned with Mateus Vital sending his effort crashing against the post as Ha Noi held firm for the win.
RESULTS
Al Shamal (Qat) bt Al Hilal (Ksa) 3-1
Shabab Al Ahli (UAE) bt Esteghlai (IrI) 2-0
Al Shorta (Irq) drew Al Hussein (Jor) 1-1
Al Seeb Club (Oma) drew East Bengal (Ind) 0-0
Ratchaburi FC (Tha) drew Kashiwa Reysol (Jpn) 0-0
Beijing (Chn) drew Jeonbbuk Hyundai Motors (Kor) 2-2
Vissel Kobe (Jpn) bt Daejeon Hana Citizen (Jpn) 1-0
Kyoto Sanga (Jpn) bt Newcastle JEts (Aus) 5-2
Johor Darul Ta’zim (Mas0 bt Port FC (Tha) 3-0
Cong An Ha Noi (Vie) br Shanghai Port 3-2
