Matchday Three of the newly revamped AFC Champions League Elite and AFC Champions League Two concluded this week with several clubs representing the ASEAN region on the continental stage.
ASEAN club football continues to impress with clubs from various nations rubbing shoulders against Asia’s elite in the two biggest continental competitions on offer.
Three ASEAN Club Championship Shopee Cup™ clubs were in action with Thailand’s Buriram United competing in AFC Champions League Elite while Singapore’s Lion City Sailors FC and Kaya FC-Iloilo of the Philippines battling it out in the second-tier AFC Champions League Two.
ASEAN United FC recaps the continental action from an action-packed week.
Bissoli nets winner against Pohang
Thai League 1 champions Buriram United have made an unbeaten start to life in the AFC Champions League Elite after Guilherme Bissoli’s improvised flicked finish from Sasalak Haiprakhon’s cross helped them get the better of Korea Republic’s Pohang Steelers 1-0 at the Thunder Castle with Buriram accumulating seven points from their opening three matches in the East Zone.
Buriram had earlier picked up a point in a 0-0 draw against J.League 1 champions Vissel Kobe at home followed by an impressive 2-1 away win against reigning AFC Cup champions Central Coast Mariners, meaning the Thai side now sit just two points off leaders Gwangju FC at the top of the East Zone standings.
Sailors content with a draw; Kaya remain pointless
Meanwhile, in Group F of the AFC Champions League Two, Singapore’s Lion City Sailors could only manage a point in a 1-1 draw away against Indonesia Liga 1 champions Persib Bandung on Thursday. Spaniard Tyronne del Pino chipped the keeper to give Persib the lead in the 43rd minute but Bailey Wright headed in the equaliser in the 49th minute for the Sailors.
Team Garuda forward Dimas Drajad was then sent off for a headbutt on Wright and despite playing the majority of the second half with numerical disadvantage, Persib held on for their first point in the competition while Sailors, on four points, are now two points behind pace-setters Port FC of Thailand in the group.
In the only other AFC Champions League Two match involving a Shopee Cup club, Filipino champions Kaya FC-Iloilo were beaten 2-1 by Hong Kong’s Eastern at the Rizal Memorial Stadium on Friday as Kaya remain without a point at the halfway mark of the group stage.
The match had been postponed to a day later due to severe tropical storm Kristine wreaking havoc in the Philippines but the fortunes didn’t change for Kaya, who had previously lost against their other two group opponents, Sanfrecce Hiroshima and Sydney FC.
Photo: Buriram United
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