ABU DHABI — Khamis Esmaeel's spectacular second-half strike earned Al-Jazira its first point in the AFC Champions League this season as Saudi Arabia champion Al-Shabab was forced to settle for a 1-1 draw here Tuesday. Hassan Fallatah's first time finish on the stroke of half-time had handed Shabab the advantage in the Group A contest as the visitors looked to follow up their 2-0 win over Qatar's Al-Jaish two weeks ago. But, Esmaeel struck five minutes before the hour mark as UAE Pro League side Jazira, which reached the Round of 16 for the first time last year, bounced back from losing last month's opener 3-1 to Iran's Tractorsazi Tabriz despite the late dismissal of Argentinean midfielder Matias Delgado. Having marked their return to the AFC Champions League with a comfortable win over Al-Jaish last month, Ahmad Al-Astaa, Sebastian Tagliabue and Ahmed Ateef all created chances for Shabab as the visitors made an encouraging start in Abu Dhabi. Al-Jazira, however, almost snatched all three points in stoppage time only for Shabab goalkeeper Waleed Abdullah to produce a last-ditch one-handed save to deny captain Ibrahim Diaky with the midfielder seemingly favorite to score from just inside the area. In other matches, Al-Jaish of Qatar drew 3-3 with Teraktor Sazi Tabriz of Iran and Pakhtakor Tashkent of Uzbekistan edged Al-Shabab of the UAE 1-0. In early matches, former champion Urawa Reds scored three second-half goals in a 4-1 Group F win over Thailand's Muangthong United to register its first victory in the Asian Champions League since 2008. Yosuke Kashiwagi opened the scoring for the 2007 champion in the eighth minute and Urawa got an added advantage when Muangthong defender Piyaphon Buntao was sent off after collecting his second yellow card, leaving the visitors with 10 men for the last hour. Kunimitsu Sekiguchi doubled the lead in the 64th minute with a roaring shot from the left side before a header from Genki Haraguchi and an own goal from Thritthi Nonsrichai extended Urawa's lead to 4-0. Siaka Dagno scored a late consolation goal for the Thai champions. In the other Group F match, striker Muriqui scored a 64th-minute equalizer for Chinese Super League champion Guangzhou Evergrande to secure a 1-1 draw with Jeonbuk Motors of South Korea. Marcello Lippi's Guangzhou squad, which opened with a 3-0 win over Urawa Reds two weeks ago, leads the group with four points. There were two 0-0 draws in Group E, with China's Jiangsu Sainty holding J-League club Vegalta Sendai scoreless and Buriram United and K-League champion FC Seoul maintaining its unbeaten starts with a scoreless draw in Thailand. Seoul opened the tournament with a 5-1 win over Jiangsu Sainty two weeks ago, but was unable to find a breakthrough at Buriram. "We are not disappointed with the draw. We are very tired, but satisfied with the result as this is a very tough away fixture,” FC Seoul coach Choi Yong-soo said. The Jiangsu Sainty vs. Vegalta Sendai match was played under intense security in Nanjing, China, scene of the worst atrocities of Japan's 1930s invasion of China, which still weighs heavily on ties. About 6,000 paramilitary guards and police were drafted in for the AFC Champions League game, which ended without any violent flare-ups. — Agencies
