By Michael Church
HONG KONG (Reuters) – Talking points from the week in Asian football:
LATE GOALS SEE POHANG STEELERS CLAIM KOREAN FA CUP TITLE
Pohang Steelers twice came from behind to hand Jeonbuk Motors a 4-2 defeat and lift the Korean FA Cup on Saturday.
Song Min-kyu struck from close range to give Jeonbuk a 16th minute lead but Han Chen-hee levelled for Kim Gi-dong’s side a minute before the interval.
Gustavo’s penalty five minutes after the restart put Jeonbuk back in front but goals from Zeca, Kim Jong-woo and Hong Yun-sang in the final 16 minutes earned Pohang their fifth FA Cup triumph and a place in next year’s Asian Champions League.
AVISPA FUKUOKA DOWN URAWA RED DIAMONDS TO WIN J.LEAGUE CUP
Avispa Fukuoka claimed the first trophy in their history on Saturday with a 2-1 win over Urawa Red Diamonds to lift the J.League Cup at National Stadium in Tokyo.
A crowd of 61,683 turned out to see Avispa take a fifth-minute lead as Hiroyuki Mae scored from close range following Kazuya Konno’s low centre from the right.
Daiki Miya doubled his side’s advantage four minutes into first-half injury time and, though Takahiro Akimoto scored with 23 minutes remainIng when he controlled Hiroki Sakai’s cross-field ball on his chest, Fukuoka held on.
ADELAIDE UNITED PEG BACK VICTORY TO KEEP A-LEAGUE’S TOP SPOT
Melbourne Victory and Adelaide United remain level at the top of the A-League standings after the pair shared a 1-1 draw on Saturday in a game that saw each team finish with 10 players.
Both clubs have seven points, with Adelaide at the top of the table after three rounds thanks to a better goal difference. Wellington Phoenix and Macarthur FC also have seven points.
Bruno Fornaroli put Victory in front after 28 minutes but Hiroshi Ibusuki levelled 14 minutes into the second half. Both sides were then handed red cards, with Victory’s Roderick Miranda and Adelaide’s Nestory Irankunda sent off.
MITROVIC STRIKES AGAIN AS AL-HILAL STAY UNBEATEN IN SAUDI
Al-Hilal maintained their unbeaten start to the Saudi Pro League season with a 2-0 win over Al Fateh on Friday that keeps Jorge Jesus’ side four points clear of Riyadh rivals Al-Nassr.
Aleksandar Mitrovic scored his ninth goal of the campaign from the penalty spot in the fifth minute and Salem Al Dawsari secured the points in the third minute of injury time as Al-Hilal won for the 10th time in 12 games.
Cristiano Ronaldo remains the league’s top scorer after hitting his 12th of the season to put Al-Nassr ahead in their 2-0 win over Al-Khaleej, with former Manchester City defender Aymeric Laporte also on target as his side remained in second.
AL DAWSARI, KERR CLAIM AFC PLAYER OF THE YEAR AWARDS
Saudi Arabia’s Salem Al-Dawsari has been named the Asian Football Confederation’s Player of the Year with Chelsea and Australia forward Sam Kerr taking the women’s title at the regional body’s awards ceremony in Doha on Tuesday.
Hajime Moriyasu was named men’s coach of the year after taking Japan to the last 16 of the World Cup in Qatar last year, while Shui Qingxia was presented with the women’s award having guided China to the Women’s Asian Cup in India.
The awards were being held for the first time in four years following disruption caused to the game across the continent by the COVID-19 pandemic.
(Reporting by Michael Church; Editing by Christopher Cushing)
Disclaimer: This report is auto generated from the Reuters news service. ThePrint holds no responsibilty for its content.