BEIJING — Yang Xu scored but then saw red for a Diego Maradona-style handball as Shandong Luneng crashed 4-1 to Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors in the AFC Champions League Tuesday. Yang belted his third goal in just two games for Shandong but the striker turned villain when he was sent off for a repeat of Maradona's famous “hand” goal incident of 1986. The Chinese FA Cup-holder was struggling at 3-1 down with 11 minutes to go when the leaping Yang lifted his hand to a hanging free-kick and parried it against the post. Yang's second yellow card, just a week after his double strike earned a 3-2 victory over Binh Duong, carried echoes of Maradona's controversial first goal in Argentina's 2-1 World Cup quarterfinal win against England. Brazilian midfielder Leonardo rounded off the scoring in injury time as 2006 champion Jeonbuk celebrated its first win in Group E. Jeonbuk had started briskly and the warning signs were there when new Brazilian signing Edu dribbled all too easily into the box on 10 minutes before curling his shot just wide. And it was a moment of quality from Edu which opened the scoring when he shaped to hit a powerful shot but then checked and chipped superbly over goalkeeper Wang Dalei. After the break, defender Dai Lin was lucky only to earn a yellow card when he appeared to punch Choi Chul-soon during a tangle near the halfway line. Brazilian striker Diego Tardelli hobbled off injured as the problems mounted for Shandong — before Yang put the host level on 61 minutes. Zhang Wenzhao surged into the box, drawing two defenders before he poked the ball back to the on-rushing forward, who smashed in the equalizer off the right-hand post. But Shandong's joy lasted just 10 minutes before Han Kyo-won received Lee Jae-sung's cushion header and squirmed his shot past Wang for a 2-1 lead, silencing the noisy Jinan crowd. The flamboyant Wang was at fault for Jeonbuk's third on 75 minutes when his punched clearance fell straight to Lee in the box and the midfielder cracked it home first-time. Shandong's game was effectively over after Yang's handball, but Leonardo had time to rub salt into the wound when he netted Jeonbuk's fourth in injury time. Elsewhere in Group E, Japan's Kashiwa Reysol hammered Binh Duong 5-1 to join Jeonbuk at the top on four points after two games played. In Group F, Seongnam FC beat Gamba Osaka 2-0 to hand the Japanese treble-winner its second straight defeat, while Thailand's Buriram United shocked Guangzhou R&F 2-1. In the evening matches Piroozi of Iran edged FC Bunyodkor 1-0, while the matches between Naft Tehran vs. Al-Ain of UAE and Al-Nasr of Saudi Arabia vs. Lekhwiya of Qatar ended in 1-1 draw. — Agencies
