Hilal and Al-Shabab dropped points in the AFC Champions League matches Tuesday. While Al-Hilal and Uzbekistan's Pakhtakor shared the spoils (1-1) in Group A at Pakhtakor Stadiumin Tashkent, Al-Shabab and Piroozi of Iran drew goalless in Group B at King Fahd International Stadium in Riyadh. After a goalless first half, Romanian midfielder Mirel Radoi put Al-Hilal ahead from the spot two minutes before the home team leveled the game through Zaynitdin Tadjiyev. The draw kept the Uzbek side on top on four points while Al-Hilal came second with two points. The draw put Al-Shabab and the Iranian side on the top of the group on three points as they won their openers against Qatar's Al-Gharafa and UAE's Sharjah respectively. Al-Shabab enjoyed some domination in the early minutes but the two strikers Nasser Al-Shamarni and Abdul Aziz Al-Saran failed to find the net. A fine chance for Piroozi came in the first half when Karim Baghri blasted from close but Al-Shabab goalkeeper Waleed Abdullah denied his attempt. After the break, both coaches made all their changes to no avail. In another Group B match, Al-Gharafa of Qatar beat Sharjah 2-0. On Wednesday, Dammam-based club Al-Ittifaq hosts Sepahan of Iran at the Prince Mohammed Bin Fahd Stadium in Group D while Al-Ittihad plays Umm-Salal in Group C in Doha. Saba Battery of Iran also shared the second spot with Al-Hilal after a goalless draw with Al-Ahli of the UAE in their match in Iran on Tuesday. Al-Hilal coach Romanian Necula Catalin seemed to be looking for an early goal but Pakhtakor defense was so strong to break. Pakhtakor which won its opener 2-1 over host Al-Ahli was better in terms of scoring chances. After the break, Al-Hilal dominated the early minutes and created some trouble for the Uzbek defense. In the 55th minute, Romanian Radoi netted the opener for Al-Hilal as he converted from the spot to the right side of goalkeeper Ignatiy Nesterov. Two minutes after Al-Hilal took the lead, Zaynitdin Tadjiyev equalized as he headed in from close to the left side of goalkeeper Mohammed Al-Daeyea. Al-Hilal almost regained the lead in the 70th minute when Radoi's long shot was denied by Ignatiy Nesterov. Seven minutes later, Uzbekistani striker Alexander Geynrikh responded with another shot that hit the bar of Al-Daeyea. In other matches, reigning champion Gamba Osaka maintained its red-hot form to stun FC Seoul 4-2 as China's Shandong Luneng got its AFC Champions League campaign back on track in emphatic fashion. Elsewhere, Newcastle Jets handed Australia its first win of the tournament with a 2-0 victory over Korea's Ulsan Hyundai, while the clash between J-League stalwarts Nagoya Grampus and Beijing Guoan ended goalless. Japan's Gamba has been impressive recently, following up on its 3-0 win over Shandong in the Champions League last week by moving to the top of the J-League over the weekend. The mauling leaves Gamba with six points from two games in Group F and firmly on track for the knockout rounds. Shandong, the Chinese champion, clearly learned its lesson from being beaten by Gamba last week in a 5-0 home demolition of Indonesia's Sriwijaya. Champions League newcomer Newcastle Jets also rebounded well from its loss to Beijing Guoan last week with Sasho Petrovski scoring a brace in his home debut to earn them a crucial 2
