Feng Xiaoting(R) of Guangzhou Evergrande competes with Aoki Takuya of Urawa Red Diamonds during the Group H third round match between China's Guangzhou Evergrande and Japan's Urawa Red Diamonds in Guangzhou, capital of south China's Guangdong Province, March 16, 2016. The match ended 2-2. (Xinhua/Lu Hanxin)
Defending champions Guangzhou Evergrande were left on verge of elimination after being held to 2-2 draw by Urawa Red Diamonds at home in an Asian Champions League Group H game on Wednesday.
Guangzhou stayed at the bottom of the group with only two points, four points behind group leader Sydney FC, who beat Pohang Steelers 1-0 thanks to Chris Naumoff's goal.
Ricardo Goulart scored twice in the first 14 minutes to give the Guangzhou a comfortable lead. Yuki Muto pulled one back for the Japanese side, before Shinzoh Kohrogi pulled it level in the 89th minute.
"It was a wonderful match, we created many opportunities, but sorry we couldn't score one more goal," Guangzhou's coach Scolari said at the post-match press conference.
"We were under pressure, the opponents were very strong and the result was a fair one, we are still on our road to improve," he added.
Guangzhou got into the match quickly. They were awarded a penalty in the fifth minute as Mei Fang was fouled by Zlatan Ljubijankic inside the box. Ricardo Goulart netted easily to open the scoring for the home side.
The Brazilian scored a much easier goal to gift Guangzhou a 2-0 lead in 14th minute thanks to Jackson Martinez' fine back heel pass.
The Japanese side were back into the game in the 29th minute as Yuki Muto netted an easy header after Guangzhou's keeper Zeng Cheng failed to parry a corner kick far enough.
Urawa missed the chance to make it 2-2 in the 35th minute, only to see Zeng deny Tomoaki Makino's promising free-kick.
Zeng saved the home side again, refusing Yuki's shot inside the box in the 51st minute.
Urawa should have equalized in the 66th minute, but Shinzoh Kohrogi's header narrowly missed the target.
The unyielding Japanese side finally found the equalizer in the 89th minute when Kohrogi drove the ball into the far corner.
"Today we presented a fair competition between two strong teams," said Urawa's coach Mihailo Petrovic.
"We got into a very dangerous position after trailing by two goals, thanks to our brave players, we came back at last and it is a satisfactory result for us," he added.
Shandong Luneng, another Chinese Super League powerhouse, were handed a 4-1 defeat by Seoul FC at home.
Luneng head coach Mano Menezes hoped his side's loss could serve as a wake-up call reminding them to face the problems hidden behind consecutive wins.
Luneng were riding a four straight wins streak in the Asian Champions League before they lost to Seoul FC.
"Those wins covered our problems, we need to find ways to deal with them," said Menezes.
Seoul FC showed strong determination with fierce attack from the very beginning, and their efforts paid off at the 27th minute when Carlos Adriano opened the scoring.
Jucilei da Silva equalized for Luneng at the 62nd minute with a header. Then the hosts suffered a six-minute slaughter to concede three goals.
"No coach could foresee that we would be scored against three times in six minutes," Menezes said. "At that moment, our more experienced players should have stood out to calm our team down. But you have to say that the opponents are strong and took advantage of our chaotic organization."
Seoul FC head coach Choi Yong-soo, who led the team to finish runners-up in 2013 ACL, attributed the 4-1 win to team play.
"I asked my players to stay concentrated from the start, set the pace and stay patient even when Luneng scored," Choi said.
Seoul FC are now leading Group F with nine points, followed by Luneng with six. Sanfrecce Hiroshima of Japan, who beat Buriram United of Thailand 3-0 in the other game of the group on Wednesday, rank third with three points. Buriram United lies at the bottom with three losses.
Seoul FC will host Luneng next round on April 5.
