Adelaide United win again

Adelaide United secured their second successive Asian Champions League win with a 2-0 victory over Chinese side Shandong Luneng at Shandong Sports Centre.

Sergio van Dijk opened the scoring midway through the first half, heading home from Lucas Pantelis' cross. The Australians then wrapped up the victory with 20 minutes remaining when Matthew Leckie's powerful header rattled the underside of the crossbar and bounced over the line.

The victory means Adelaide top Group H and are in a strong position to qualify for the knockout stage.

"It was a great win,'' said Reds coach Aurelio Vidmar. "I think it was really important that we backed up from our good win against Pohang Steelers. The group's mentality has been fantastic. The confidence amongst the players and within the group is very good at this point of time and winning does that.

Shandong coach Branko Ivankovic was disappointed his side could not make the most of home advantage.

"I am very disappointed, particularly as it was our first ACL match at home this year,'' he said. "The period before the next ACL contest is crucial for Shandong. We have to use the time to prepare well. Some of our players must adapt to the team and the ACL atmosphere.''

In the group's other game, Brazilian Almir struck deep into injury time to give Asian Champions League holders Pohang Steelers a 2-1 win over Sanfrecce Hiroshima at the Steelyard.

Hwang Jae-won headed Pohang into the lead early in the second half but the Japanese newcomers thought they had secured a point when Ilian Stoyanov converted a late penalty. However, Almir headed home from close range to secure the three points for the South Koreans.

"This was a tough game for us but it was good to see that the players had the belief even after they equalised to keep trying to get the winning goal,'' said Pohang coach Waldemar Lemos. "You never know when a goal will come and you never know who is going to score.''

Sanfrecce coach Mihailo Petkovic was disappointed his side were unable to hold on for a point but admitted it was always going to be tough against the defending champions.

"Both teams played well,'' said the Serbian. "We knew that this wasn't going to be an easy game. Both teams have some very good players.''

Suwon Bluewings eased to a comfortable 2-0 win over ten-man Singapore Armed Forces at Jalan Besar Stadium to move to the top of Group G at the 2010 Asian Champions League.

Brazilian Juninho opened the scoring shortly before the break when he drove home a powerful free-kick before SAF were reduced to 10 men in the 57th minute when defender Ivan Loric was shown his second yellow card. Jose Mota then sealed the win with 17 minutes remaining when he curled a left-foot shot into the roof of the net.

"It was a tough match today,'' said Suwon coach Cha Bum-kun. "The opponents showed great improvement from last year. They are more organised with players getting into dangerous positions.''

SAF coach Richard Bok had no qualms with the result but felt his side good have perhaps got something from the game had they not conceded before the break.

"I was quite happy with our performance today,'' he said. "We defended well until they scored that very good goal in injury time of the first half. If we had gone into the break 0-0, it could have been a different game.''

Meanwhile, Gamba Osaka were left searching for their first win at the tournament after being held to a 1-1 draw by Henan Jianye at Expo '70 Commemoration Park Stadium.

Zhang Lu put the Chinese visitors ahead in the fourth minute when he pounced on a loose ball after goalkeeper Atsushi Kimra had failed to hold Daillo Amadou's attempt. Gamba secured a point though when Lucas scored from the spot in the 35th minute after the Brazilian had been fouled in the area. Lucas and Ze Carlos had chances late on but Henan goalkeeper Zeng Cheng denied them both.

"We gave away the first goal and that made the game hard to us,'' said Gamba coach Akira Nishino. "We played at a good tempo and tried various things in the final third, but their defence was solid. When they played defensively it was hard for us to break through.''

Henan manager Tang Yaodong was thrilled with the result as his side maintained their unbeaten start to the tournament.

"I'm really excited,'' he said. "Our team and I are all satisfied with this result. The points we have collected so far are different as we played against a different opponent and one was played at home and the other one was away, but so far we are on the right track.''