Evergrande eviscerates hapless Hong Kong debutant

HONG KONG - Guangzhou Evergrande crushed Hong Kong's Eastern 6-0 on Tuesday as it ruthlessly ousted the debutant and its trailblazing female coach from the AFC Champions League.

Brazilians Paulinho and Alan both bagged braces as Luiz Felipe Scolari's side buried Eastern, whose 28-year-old coach, Chan Yuen-ting, is the world's first woman to lead a professional men's soccer team in continental competition.

Chan's side, whose Champions League introduction was a 7-0 hammering at Guangzhou in February, lies at the bottom of Group G with one point from five games and no chance of reaching the last 16.

Evergrande, a two-time Asian champion and winner of the past six Chinese Super League titles, stays second, however it must beat Suwon Samsung Bluewings in its last game to guarantee progression to the knockout stages.

Elsewhere, group leader South Korean outfit Suwon fell 1-0 to Kawasaki Frontale as the Japanese side, which plays Eastern in its final group game on May 9, kept up the pressure on ex-Brazil boss Scolari's team.

At Hong Kong's Mongkok Stadium, former Tottenham Hotspur midfielder Paulinho nodded Evergrande in front after eight minutes before Josh Mitchell put Zhang Linpeng's cross into his own net just before the break.

Striker Alan, formerly of Red Bull Salzburg in Austria, netted twice in the second half before Paulinho buried his second from close range and Yu Hanchao's injury-time freekick trickled in.

In Group H, South Korea's Jeju United beat already-qualified Jiangsu Suning 2-1 to move into second spot above Adelaide United, which scrambled to a 3-3 draw with Gamba Osaka.

Baba Diawara's flicked header in the 91st minute completed Adelaide's second comeback of the night after falling behind 2-0 in the first 12 minutes.

The result leaves Australia's Adelaide two points off the qualification spots heading into the final round of group games, when it faces a must-win clash against China's Jiangsu.

Shun Nagasawa's near-post header from a corner put Gamba ahead after six minutes before 18-year-old Ritsu Doan spotted Adelaide goalkeeper Eugene Galekovic off his line and fired home to make it 2-0.

United's Sergio Cirio scored just before halftime and Jordan O'Doherty produced a spectacular finish to equalize after the interval.

Michael Marrone's own goal seemed to have sealed Adelaide's fate, but the game had a final twist when Diawara rose unchallenged to rescue a point for the visitor.

Gamba, which is now eliminated, was left to rue an embarrassing penalty miss by Japanese veteran Yasuhito Endo, who ballooned his spot-kick over the bar when the score was locked at 2-2.

Agence France-Presse