By Michael Church
HONG KONG (Reuters) – Talking points from the week in Asian football:
WU HITS FOUR AS SHANGHAI PORT MAINTAIN LEAD IN CHINA
Wu Lei scored four times to continue his blistering form in front of goal as Shanghai Port thrashed Meizhou Hakka 7-2 to maintain their five-point lead over cross city rivals Shanghai Shenhua in the Chinese Super League.
Wu’s haul takes his tally to 28 in 23 games so far this season, nine more than team mate Gustavo, who is second on the scorers’ list and was also on target against Meizhou.
Shenhua bounced back from last week’s loss against Beijing Guoan, their first of the season, to beat Nantong Zhiyun 5-1, with Andre Luis netting twice.
CHAMPIONS ULSAN RETURN TO WINNING WAYS UNDER NEW BOSS KIM
Kim Pan-gon steered defending K League champions Ulsan HD to a 1-0 win over Daegu FC on Saturday in his first game since replacing Hong Myung-bo as head coach at the start of the month.
Ko Myeong-seok’s 30th minute own goal earned Kim a win in his debut at the helm after Ulsan had lost back-to-back games under caretaker Lee Kyung-soo to drop to fourth in the table.
The win moves Ulsan up to third, two points behind new leaders Gangwon FC, who defeated Gimcheon Sangmu 2-1 to climb into first place on Friday.
MACHIDA LOSE TO SHONAN BUT CLING ON TO J.LEAGUE’S TOP SPOT
Machida Zelvia remained top in Japan despite suffering a surprise 1-0 loss at home to Shonan Bellmare on Sunday as second-placed Kashima Antlers went down 2-1 to Jubilo Iwata.
Machida, who are three points clear at the top, fell behind to Masaki Ikeda’s 48th minute goal and were unable to find an equaliser.
Iwate got late goals from Hiroki Yamada and Yosuke Furukawa to come from behind and defeat Kashima, allowing third-placed Sanfrecce Hiroshima to close the gap on the leaders with a 2-0 win over Cerezo Osaka.
SHABAB AL-AHLI ADVANCE IN ASIAN CHAMPIONS LEAGUE ELITE
Shabab Al-Ahli of the United Arab Emirates will take on Qatar’s Al-Gharafa next week for a place in the group stages of the Asian Champions League Elite after securing a 4-1 playoff win in extra-time over Iran’s Sepahan in Isfahan on Tuesday.
(Reporting by Michael Church, Editing by Peter Rutherford)
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