Ahli and Al-Shabab scored two important victories in the AFC Champions League 2010 as Ahli defeated its host Al-Jazira of the UAE 2-0 while Shabab snatched a 3-2 win from its guest Al-Ain of the UAE Wednesday. Brazilian striker Victor Simoes headed twice to give Al-Ahli a 2-0 victory over its ten-man host Al-Jazira of the UAE at Mohammed Bin Za'id Stadium. The win revived the green team's hopes to stay in the competition. Ahli now sits third in Group A with six points, one point behind second Al-Gharafa of Qatar. However, the latter is one point behind group leader Esteghlal Tehran of Iran after the two teams shared points and two goals at Thani Bin Jassim Stadium. Simoes put Ahli in the lead six minutes after the kickoff before Jazira midfielder Sultan Al-Minhali was sent off in the 37th minute. However, Simoes doubled the score five minutes after the break. The winner will travel to Tehran to meet group leader Esteghlal (8 points) on April 14. Brazilian midfielder Marcelo Camacho helped Shabab earn three points through his 83rd minute winner that made it 3-2 against Al-Ain at King Fahd International Stadium. The win put Shabab on top of Group C with seven points, one point ahead from Pakhtakor Tashkent which lost 0-2 against its host Sepahan of Iran. Angolan striker Amado Flavio put Shabab in the lead in the 11th minute before Argentinean striker of Al-Ain Jose Sand leveled the score 20 minutes later. Midfielder Ali Al-Wihaiby put the guests in the lead in the 58th minute before Flavio made it 2-2 eight minutes later. However, Camacho gave Shabab the winning goal seven minutes before the full time. Shabab will face a real challenge when the team hits the road to Iran to meet Sepahan on April 13. Elsewhere, South Korea's Suwon Bluewings and Seongnam Ilhwa powered into the last 16 as Japan's Gamba Osaka took a giant step towards joining them. Suwon made the grade by beating China's Henan Jianye 2-0, with a first-half strike by Brazilian Jose Mota and a second in the dying minutes from Kim Dae-Eui enough to secure their passage from Group G. Seongnam maintained its unbeaten record in Group E with a hard-fought 1-0 victory over Beijing Guoan in the Chinese capital. It gives Korea three teams in the knockout rounds after Jeonbuk Motors qualified Tuesday alongside Japan's Kashima Antlers. The fourth Korean club, defending champion Pohang Steelers, are well placed to make it four-out-of-four. J-League stalwart Gamba, the 2008 Asian champion, inched closer to progressing after a convincing 3-0 win over Singapore Armed Forces. Melbourne Victory kept its slim hopes alive with its first win of the tournament, beating Japan's Kawasaki Frontale 1-0 in the other Group E game. Al-Nasr bows out Al-Nasr exited the Gulf Clubs Cup Championship 2009 when Al-Wasl of the UAE won a 4-3 shootout after a 4-2 full-time result at Al-Wasl Club Stadium. The full time and the extra two-half 30 minute ended 4-2 for the host team to take the match to shootouts. Al-Nasr had won over its guest Al-Wasl 3-1 in Riyadh last Thursday. Al-Wasl will meet Qatar of Qatar in the final match of the competition. The match witnessed unruly scenes as some of the Wasl supporters jumped into the field before the end of the first half of the extra time. They attacked the Nasr's Lebanese therapist and some of the team's players. The chaos continued for about ten minutes before security men settled the situation.
