Al Rayyan win, Lekhwiya pick a point

A brace from Rodrigo Tabata  helped Qatar's Al Rayyan to register an emphatic 3-1 win over Persepolis at Jassim Bin Hamad Stadium while Lekhwiya playing away from home earned a point in the one draw against Iran's Esteghlal Khouzestan in the AFC  Champions league matches.
In Doha, Tabata bagged a brace and set up another as Al Rayyan moved to the top of Group D.
Mehdi Taremi opened the scoring for Persepolis on six minutes with his third goal in two games after being played in by a delightful Mohsen Mosalman pass, only for the hosts to level after 19 minutes when Tabata found space for himself in the box and fired low into the back of the net for his second of the continental campaign.
And the same player then put his side 2-1 up as the hour approached by confidently dispatching from the spot after Jalal Hosseini upended Sebastian Soria in the box, before the Al Rayyan captain then delivered a pinpoint free-kick for Sergio Garcia to volley home a third two minutes from time.
The win sees Al Rayyan leapfrog their opponents and Al Hilal to the top of the standings after the Saudi Arabian side drew 2-2 with Al Wahda in other Group D encounter.
In Ahwaz, Esteghlal Khouzestan dropped their first points of their campaign as Ismaeel Mohammed’s goal earned Qatar’s Lekhwiya a 1-1 draw with the Iranian champions.
Hasan Beytsaeid put Sirous Pourmousavi’s side in front after seven minutes when he picked himself off the floor to convert from the penalty spot as Esteghlal Khouzestan sought to maintain their perfect start to the campaign.
But Mohammed latched on to Chico Flores’ header across the Iranian side’s goal in the 11th minute to level the scores and earn Djemal Belmadi’s team a draw that sees the Qatari side maintain the two-point gap between the teams at the top of Group B.
Meanwhile, Kawasaki Frontale captain Yu Kobayashi coolly chipped home a penalty in the fifth minute of stoppage time to secure a richly deserved draw against Guangzhou Evergrande yesterday.
The Japanese side laid siege to the two-time Asian champions goalmouth after the prolific Brazilian striker Alan put the home side ahead in the 26th minute with his third goal in three Champions League outings.  Frontale were denied time and again after half-time by a series of saves using hands, feet and body by goalkeeper Zeng Cheng.
And Kobayashi must have thought it was destined not to be his night when he finally beat Zeng with a 71st-minute snap-shot across goal after a sweet turn, only to see the ball cannon back off the foot of the post.
But deep into injury time Frontale's persistence paid off when Evergrande's Yu Hanchao made a hash of a clearance near the edge of his penalty area resulting in the ball striking first his left and then his right arm.
Qatari referee Abdulrahman Al Jassim had no choice but to point to the spot, despite the protests of the Evergrande players and coach Luiz Felipe Scolari who believed that the contact had occurred outside the box.
Kobayashi's last-gasp leveller leaves Group G wide open with Kawasaki closing to two points behind Guangzhou and Suwon Bluewings, who both have five points after the South Korean side beat Hong Kong minnow Eastern 1-0.
Suwon left it late against the Hong Kong side who are in their first Champions League campaign. Brazilian Johnathan popping up with the headed winner from Yeom Ki-Hun's cross 12 minutes from time at the Mongkok Stadium. Another Japanese side, Kashima Antlers, took pole position at the top of AFC Champions League Group E with a comfortable 3-0 home win over Brisbane Roar. South Korean side Ulsan Hyundai's lacklustre 0-0 draw with Muangthong United allowed the reigning J-League champions to leapfrog the undefeated Thai side in the Group E standings with six points from three matches.