JEDDAH: Sepahan of Iran defeated Al-Hilal 2-1, while the other Saudi side Al-Nasr played out a 2-2 draw against Pakhtakor Tashkent of Uzbekistan in the opening round of Asian Champions League action Tuesday. Senegalese striker Toure Ibrahima put visitors Sepahan in the lead five minutes after the break before Hilal keeper Abdullah Al-Sudairy mistakenly diverted a corner-kick ball into his own goal. Swedish midfielder Christian Wilhelmsson succeeded in pulling one back two minutes into injury time in Riyadh. In Tashkent, Uzbek midfielder Sherzodbek Karimov put Pakhtakor in the lead in the 45th minute, but Kuwaiti striker leveled the score for Nasr five minutes after the break. Sharofetdinov Dilshod put Pakhtakor back into the lead 10 minutes later, but Miladinovic scored an own goal to make make 2-2. Elsewhere Chinese teams enjoyed a great night, as Tianjin Teda battled past Jeju United and Hangzhou Greentown shocked Nagoya Grampus. In the other tie of the evening in the East Asia side of the draw, Gamba Osaka thrashed a woeful Melbourne Victory 5-1. Yu Dabao's predatory second-half strike was enough to give Tianjin a hard-fought 1-0 away win over K-League runners-up Jeju in Group E in the opening match of Asia's premier club tournament. Tianjin coach Arie Haan hailed his side's victory as a significant result for Chinese football. Jeju was making its debut in the tournament and while it is on top for most of the game, it was caught out by a classic counter-attack 10 minutes after the break. Zhang Xiaobin broke free down the right and curled an inviting cross toward the near post for fellow forward Yu to hook in from close range. Jeju battled to find a way back but struggled to create any clear chances in the face of a well-organized Tianjin defense, as the Chinese side held on to put an early three points on the board in Group E. There was more unexpected good news for Chinese teams in Group F, where two second-half goals were enough to ease Hangzhou Greentown past J-League champion Nagoya Grampus. Honduran striker Luis Ramirez and Bali Maimaitiyili did the damage for the host. In Group E, the 2008 Asian champions Gamba charged into a 3-0 lead against Melbourne after just 11 minutes courtesy of goals from Takuya Takei, Brazilian striker Adriano and Lee Keun-Ho at the Expo Stadium. Kevin Muscat pulled one back for the visitors from the penalty spot but Takahiro Futagawa made it 4-1 midway through the second-half before substitute Kim Seung-yong completed the rout with a headed fifth in injury time. A pair of 88th-minute equalizers saw both of the opening games in Group B end in draws later Tuesday. There was also late drama in another game, with former Lille and Lyon striker Abdul Kader Keita pouncing at the death to secure a 1-1 draw for Qatari giants Al Sadd at two-time champion Esteghlal of Iran. Another Group A game between Al-Jazira of UAE and Qatari outfit Al-Gharafa finished goalless.
