TASHKENT — Substitute Temurkhuja Abdukholiqov took advantage of an error by goalkeeper Faiz Al-Subaiei to net the only goal with 17 minutes remaining as Uzbekistan champion Pakhtakor began its 11th consecutive AFC Champions League campaign with a 1-0 win over Saudi Arabia's Al-Ettifaq Tuesday. Following a tight first half in the Group B opener at Pakhtakor Stadium, the game burst into life just after the hour mark as Pakhtakor goalkeeper Alexander Lobanov saved Yahya Al-Shehri's penalty. And with 18 minutes remaining, Al-Subaiei failed to hold Vladimir Kozak's long-range free kick and Abdukholiqov took full advantage with a predatory finish soon after being introduced by Pakhtakor coach Murod Ismailov. Marcello Lippi's Guangzhou Evergrande, meanwhile, swept aside Japan's Urawa Red Diamonds 3-0 in the League opener crackling with political tensions and played under heavy security in China. As the Asian competition got underway with goals and an outlandish "Panenka" penalty, the Chinese double-holder began its campaign in ominous style as it dispatched the 2007 winner at home. Chinese media said 11,000 police and security were deployed to prevent any flare-up in nationalist violence. Leading website sports.163.com called it China's highest ever ratio of guards to fans, who numbered about 40,000. But Lucas Barrios' 16th-minute opener helped calm the atmosphere and Muriqui weighed in with a second goal after half-time. At the death, Keita Suzuki put the ball into his own net to make it an emphatic start for Guangzhou. The big-spender, led by World Cup-winning coach, is aiming to become China's first Asian champion in 23 years, a result which would help mend the country's image after a major corruption scandal which left top officials in jail. Fellow Chinese team Jiangsu Sainty had a rude introduction to the competition when it was hammered 5-1 in its debut outing by K-League champion FC Seoul, which will have its own claims on the Asian title. Buriram United, rocked last week by claims that its Thai FA Cup final win against Army United was targeted by match-fixers, started positively when it came back from a goal down to draw Japan's Vegalta Sendai 1-1 away. At Nonthaburi's Thunderdome Stadium, fellow Thai team Muangthong United also earned a priceless draw when it twice came from behind to draw 2-2 with Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors, the 2006 winner and 2011 runners-up. Muangthong went 1-0 down to an early Lee Dong-Gook penalty but it equalized on the stroke of half-time courtesy of Mario Djurovski's sublime "Panenka", chipped-down-the-middle spot-kick. Belgian forward Kevin Oris looked to have stolen the points for the visitors on 77 minutes but Muangthong's South Korean import Kim Yoo-Jin had the last word when his header found the net via a Jeonbuk defender with just two minutes to go. In Group A, Spanish coach Luis Milla took charge of Al-Jazira for the first time, just days after he replaced Brazilian Paulo Bonamigo, as it lost to Iran's Tractorsazi Tabriz 3-1. — Agencies
