By Michael Church
HONG KONG (Reuters) – Talking points from the week in Asian football:
ONO RETIRES, URAWA MISS OUT ON TOP-THREE SPOT IN JAPAN
Former Asian Player of the Year Shinji Ono made his final appearance as a professional on Sunday, featuring for the opening 22 minutes of Consadole Sapporo’s 2-0 defeat by his former club Urawa Red Diamonds.
The 44-year-old, who won the UEFA Cup with Feyenoord in 2002 and played at three World Cups for Japan, was replaced by Thailand’s Supachok Sarachat before goals from Alexander Scholz and Shoya Nakajima earned Reds the three points.
Urawa’s win was not enough to secure a top-three finish with Sanfrecce Hiroshima pipping the reigning Asian champions due to their 1-0 win over Avispa Fukuoka.
SUWON RELEGATED, ULSAN FINISH SEASON WITH WIN OVER JEONBUK
Former Asian champions Suwon Bluewings were relegated from the top flight of South Korean football on Saturday, a 0-0 draw with Gangwon FC condemning the club to the drop for the first time.
Suwon won the Asian Club Championship – the predecessor to the Asian Champions League – in 2001 and 2002 and last competed in the top tier continental event in 2020, when they reached the quarter-finals.
At the other end of the table, champions Ulsan Hyundai beat Jeonbuk Motors 1-0, leaving Dan Petrescu’s side with a fourth-placed finish. Runners-up Pohang drew 0-0 with third-placed Gwangju.
OLD GOAL TAKES PHOENIX TO A-LEAGUE SUMMIT
Wellington Phoenix opened up a two-point lead in the A-League standings with a 1-0 win over last-placed Western United, Ben Old’s second-half goal keeping the New Zealand-based club unbeaten after six games and moving them on to 14 points.
Western Sydney Wanderers, in second place, were held to a 2-2 draw by Brisbane Roar, while Melbourne Victory recorded a fourth consecutive draw, 2-2 with Central Coast Mariners.
AL-HILAL EXTEND SAUDI PRO LEAGUE LEAD WITH WIN OVER AL-NASSR
Cristiano Ronaldo’s Al-Nassr lost 3-0 to table-toppers Al-Hilal in the Riyadh derby on Friday to fall further behind their rivals in the Saudi Pro League.
The Portuguese striker left the field with rival fans taunting the five-times Ballon D’Or winner by chanting the name of his great rival and Argentinian World Cup winner Lionel Messi at the end of the game.
Sergej Milinkovic-Savic put the league leaders in front before Aleksandar Mitrovic’s late double sealed a win that takes unbeaten Al-Hilal seven points clear 15 games into the season.
SAUDI TRIO CONFIRM LAST 16 SPOTS IN ASIAN CHAMPIONS LEAGUE
Al-Ittihad, Al-Hilal and Al-Nassr as well as Japan’s Kawasaki Frontale and Bangkok United from Thailand confirmed their places in the last 16 of the Asian Champions League.
A 0-0 draw with Persepolis was enough to take Al-Nassr into the next round as winners of Group E while Al-Hilal confirmed their place on top of Group D with a 2-0 victory over Navbahor of Uzbekistan.
Al-Ittihad defeated AGMK 2-1 to advance from Group C as Bangkok United won Group F ahead to twice champions Jeonbuk Motors and Kawasaki defeated Johor Darul Ta’zim 5-0 to claim first place in Group I.
Only the winners of the 10 groups are sure to progress to the last 16, where they will be joined by the three best runners-up from the West and East regions.
(Reporting by Michael Church, Editing by Peter Rutherford)
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