Yoon doubles up as 10-man Ulsan continue winning run
Yoon doubles up as 10-man Ulsan continue winning run
(Reuters) - Defending champions Ulsan Hyundai continued their march towards the knockout rounds of the Asian Champions League on Monday with a 2-1 win over Kaya-Iloilo in Bangkok despite playing most of their Group F game with 10 men.
Yoon Bit-garam scored either side of Kim Min-jun s sending off in the 31st minute as the South Koreans extended their record-breaking run in the competition to 13 consecutive wins.
Yoon, who was the tournament s Most Valuable Player last year, knew little about the 27th minute opener when Lukas Hinterseer s strike from outside the area hit the playmaker on the side of the head before wrong-footing Zach Banzon.
Four minutes later Kim was shown a straight red card for dangerous play when he caught Marco Casambre in the head with a high foot.
Jovan Bedic levelled the scores for the Filipinos two minutes into the second half, but Yoon put Ulsan back in front four minutes later when he fired into the top corner.
Ulsan lead the standings by three points after four games from BG Pathum United after the Thai League side came back from going a goal down to win 3-1 in their match against Vietnam s Viettel.
Only the five group winners from the matches being played in east Asia are certain to progress to the knockout rounds, with the three best runners-up also advancing.
Japanese champions Kawasaki Frontale maintained their winning run in Group I in Tashkent as Toru Oniki s side handed United City FC a 2-0 loss to claim a fourth win in a row.
Kei Chinen put Kawasaki in front against the club from the Philippines 18 minutes into the game and Tatsuya Hasegawa sealed the points with 12 minutes remaining.
The win keeps Kawasaki three points ahead of Daegu FC following the South Korean side s 3-0 victory over Beijing Guoan, which came courtesy of a brace from Jeong Chi-in after Kim Jin-hyuk s opener.
Matches in the eastern half of the Asian Champions League are currently being played in biosecure hubs in Thailand and Uzbekistan after games in the west of the continent were held in similar conditions in April.
The last 16 will be played in mid-September with the quarter-finals and semi-finals scheduled for October. The final will be held in a neutral venue on Nov. 23.
