KUALA LUMPUR: Barcelona great Andres Iniesta set up a last-minute winner as Japan’s Vissel Kobe beat Suwon Bluewings 1-0 to stay perfect in the AFC Champions League on Wednesday.

Iniesta, 35, was quiet for much of the night in Suwon but he finally unlocked the defence with a through-ball to Gotoku Sakai, whose cross was met first-time by Kyogo Furuhashi.

It was far from Kobe’s swashbuckling Champions League introduction last week, when they became the first Japanese team to score five goals on debut with a 5-1 hammering of Johor Darul Ta’zim but it was enough to move Thorsten Fink’s side on to six points from their opening two games.

Kobe sit on top of Group ‘G’ and are the only club to have picked up any points, with Suwon and JDT only playing once due to the postponement of Guangzhou Evergrande’s fixtures until April due to the ongoing coronavirus outbreak.

Japanese champions Yokohama F Marinos find themselves in a similar situation in Group ‘H’ after Ange Postecoglou’s side thrashed Sydney FC 4-0 at Yokohama International Stadium to maintain their flawless start to the competition.

Yokohama, who beat South Korea’s Jeonbuk Motors 2-1 last week in their group opener, never seriously looked like conceding as they gave the A-League leaders a reality check in the Asian competition.

Ado Onaiwu and Teruhito Nakagawa both netted braces for Marinos to take command of the standings. Jeonbuk and Sydney have zero points while China’s Shanghai SIPG have yet to begin their campaign.

HOMELESS BEIJING WIN OPENER

Beijing Guoan started China’s campaign in the Champions League by beating Chiangrai United of Thailand 1-0 on Tuesday.

Wang Ziming scored midway through the first half to secure all three points for Beijing in the Group ‘E’ meeting as Bruno Genesio’s side kicked off their continental campaign a week later than scheduled due to the viral outbreak that has hit mainland China.

Beijing travelled to face the Thai champions after spending much of their pre-season in South Korea. But they will not feature again in the Asian Champions League until April due to further postponements linked with the spread of the disease.

The win means Beijing join FC Seoul and Melbourne Victory on three points in the early standings in Group ‘E’ after the South Koreans secured a 1-0 win over the Australian side courtesy of a solitary strike from veteran forward Park Chu-young.

Former Arsenal striker Park, 34, swept home in the eighth minute to extend Victory’s winless streak against Korean opposition to 16 games.

Japan’s FC Tokyo, meanwhile, picked up their first win in the competition thanks to Leandro’s late goal against Australian debutants Perth Glory in Group ‘F’.

The Brazilian’s curling effort from distance eight minutes before the end put Kenta Hasegawa’s side top of the group after their draw with Ulsan Hyundai last week.

XAVI’S AL SADD EASE PAST SEPAHAN

In the western half of the competition, Xavi Hernandez’s Al Sadd from Qatar bounced back from an opening day draw against Al Nassr from Saudi Arabia in Group ‘D’.

Al Nassr joined Al Sadd at the top of the group with four points as Chelsea academy graduate Mukhtar Ali cancelled out Omar Yassen’s opener for Al Ain of the United Arab Emirates and Abderrazak Hamdallah hit the winner 10 minutes from time to give the Saudis a 2-1 win.

Al Taawon, also from Saudi Arabia, picked up their second win in a row with a 2-0 victory over Al Duhail to top Group ‘C’, while Sharjah from the UAE and Iran’s Persepolis shared a 2-2 draw to claim their first point of the competition.

On Monday, defending champions Al Hilal picked up their second win in a row as a brace from Bafetimbi Gomis earned a 2-1 victory over Shabab Al Ahli from the United Arab Emirates.

That means the club from Saudi Arabia sit on top of Group ‘B’ with six points alongside Uzbekistan’s Pakhtakor, who picked up a 3-0 win over Iranian side Shahr Khodro.

Saudi Arabia’s Al Ahli had two goals from Salman Al Moasher to thank for their 2-1 success against Iranian side Esteghlal to move on to four points at the top of Group ‘A’, where they are joined by Al Wahda from the UAE after their 1-0 win over Iraq’s Al Shorta.

Published in Dawn, February 20th, 2020