OSAKA — South Korean club Pohang Steelers beat Japan's Cerezo Osaka 2-0 to secure a second-round spot in the Asian Champions League Wednesday. Lee Myeong-ju scored in the 24th minute and Kim Seung-dae doubled the lead in the 65th after Cerezo was reduced to 10 men shortly before halftime, when Takumi Minamino was sent off for a challenge on Son Jun-ho. Pohang, the 2009 champion, led Group E by six points ahead of its final game against Thailand's Buriram United on April 23. Cerezo travels to Shandong where a win will be sufficient to put it into the knockout stage. Also in the group, Buriram kept its qualifying hopes alive with a 1-0 win over China's Shandong Luneng. In Australia, an injury-time own goal from captain John Hutchinson gave FC Seoul a 1-0 win over Central Coast Mariners, allowing the South Korean side to lead Group F with eight points. In Beijing, Naoki Ishihara scored two late goals as J-League champion Sanfrecce Hiroshima came back from two goals down to earn a 2-2 draw with Beijing Guoan. Hiroshima, Beijing and Central Coast are all tied on six points ahead of the final matches of the group stage next week, when Beijing travels to Seoul and Hiroshima hosts Central Coast. In Tashkent, two-time semifinalist Bunyodkor ended Saudia Arabia's Al-Fateh's chances of advancing to knockout stage with a 3-2 victory as the Uzbek side struck two goals inside the final seven minutes. Midfielder Oleg Zoteev put Bunyodkor ahead late in the first half before Al-Fateh went 2-1 up in the second half through Doris Salomo and Hamda Al-Hamdan's strikes. With time running out for the home team, Vokhid Shodiev and substitute Alibobo Rakhmatullaev struck late in the second half to give Bunyodkor a much needed victory. Bunyodkor could make it to the last 16 if it beats Qatar's El-Jaish in the final round of fixtures next week. In Ahvaz, newly crowned Iran Pro League champion Foolad Khouzestan topped Group B and marched into round of 16 after coming from behind to secure a 3-1 win over Qatar's El-Jaish. Khouzestan captain Bahktiar Rahmani's acrobatic goal in the 23rd minute leveled Nilmar's 10th minute strike before Gholam Rezaei put the hosts ahead late in the first half. Brazilian substitute Chimba, who narrowly missed a chance in the 70th minute, made it 3-1 with his low drive from the edge of the penalty area in the stoppage time. 2019 Asian Cup expanded to 24 teams Asia's football body Wednesday announced an expansion of the flagship Asian Cup from 16 to 24 teams as of 2019 but killed off the lower-level Challenge Cup as part of a regional shake-up. Preliminary qualifying for the Asian Cup and World Cup will also be combined, the body said following an executive committee meeting. Teams will be divided among eight groups with the pool winners and four best-placed second sides reaching both the Asian Cup and the final World Cup qualifiers. The next 24 best teams will be split into six groups of four to battle it out for the remaining Asian Cup spots, the AFC said in a statement. — Agencies
