Late penalty seals Evergrande's fate

SEOUL - Big-spending Guangzhou Evergrande of the Chinese Super League was held to a 1-1 draw after conceding an injury-time penalty to Japan's Kawasaki Frontale in the Asian Champions League on Tuesday.

Yu Kobayashi scored from the spot five minutes into injury time at Guangzhou's Tianhe Stadium after Yu Hanchao was guilty of a handball.

Guangzhou, the six-time defending CSL champion coached by Luiz Felipe Scolari, took the lead in the first half of the Group G match when Brazilian midfielder Alan Carvalho scored his third goal in as many ACL games.

"Our target was to get three points; it was a pity we couldn't get the result we wanted, but the players did their best," Kawasaki coach Oniki Toru said.

Frontale was denied time and again after halftime by a series of spectacular saves by Evergrande goalkeeper Zeng Cheng.

Kobayashi finally beat Zeng with a 71st-minute shot, only to see the ball ricochet off the foot of the post.

But deep into injury time Frontale's pressure finally paid off when Yu botched an easy clearing attempt near the edge of the penalty area, resulting in the ball striking first his left arm and then his right.

Qatari referee Abdulrahman Al Jassim had no choice but to point to the spot, despite the protests of Scolari and Evergrande players who believed the contact occurred outside the box.

"Normally we could score two or three goals to win a match like tonight's, but unfortunately we couldn't score even one more goal to clinch the victory," Scolari said.

Guangzhou and South Korea's Suwon Bluewings each have five points in the group.

The Bluewings blanked Eastern SC of Hong Kong 1-0.

In a Group E match in Japan, Kashima Antlers beat Brisbane Roar 3-0, leaving the Australian club at the bottom of the standings with one point and a minus-nine goal differential.

The three Australian clubs in the tournament have yet to register a win.

Brisbane coach John Aloisi said that despite the score, he felt the Roar played well.

"I thought we were matching them, but when you're playing away from home you need to be a little bit more ruthless," Aloisi said.

"We got into a lot of good positions but we probably didn't create as many chances as we could have."

Meanwhile, Thai representative Muangthong United continued its impressive form to move into second spot behind Kashima after a 0-0 draw at 2012 Asian champion Ulsan Horangi.

In the western division, Esteghlal Khouzestan drew 1-1 at home in Iran with Lekhwiya of Qatar to maintain top spot in Group B and Al Wahda held Al Hilal to a 2-2 draw at Abu Dhabi, extending the Saudi club's stretch to seven trips to the United Arab Emirates without a win.

In another match, Al Fateh beat Al Jazira 3-1.

Agencies