BEIJING Guo’an defeated Melbourne Victory 3-1 to notch its third winning streak in Group E, while a penalty kick helped Shanghai Shenhua edge FC Tokyo 1-0 in the AFC Champions League (ACL) in Qatar on Tuesday.

Guo’an took the lead in the 12th minute by launching an aggressive attack to make a breakthrough in Melbourne’s defense line. After Jonathan Viera Ramos snatched the ball, he rolled it back to Renato Augusto who volleyed to break the deadlock.

The leading goal made Guo’an more confident. Just after 22 minutes, thanks to Zhang Xizhe’s precise cross, Alan Douglas Borges de Carvalho converted a header to enlarge the gap to 2-0.

After 70 minutes of competition, both teams lost momentum. Guo’an replaced Alan, Viera and Zhang with Wang Ziming, Ba Dun and Chi Zhongguo. The substitution quickly proved to be effective after four minutes as Wang contributed an easy tap-in with the assist of Ba.

With a wide margin, Guo’an got relaxed in defense, gifting Melbourne a consolation goal in the 76th minute.

In a Group F game between Shenhua and Tokyo, Shenhua made a thorough rotation compared to the last round, with only Stephane M’Bia, Li Shuai and Zhu Yue remaining in the starting lineup.

In the 32nd minute when receiving Zhu’s right flank cross, Yu Hanchao made his first attempt before the goal with a header facing two defenders, but the ball flew over the cross bar with a wide range.

The first half turned out to be goalless. After the interval, Zhu Jianrong’s flick-on header found Qian Jiegei who suddenly appeared in the box. Though Tokyo goalkeeper Go Hatano failed to block Qian, the latter still missed the opportunity.

The turning point came in the 70th minute. When M’Bia’s free kick sent the ball into the box, Yu was pulled down by Hotaka Nakamura and was awarded a penalty. Two minutes later, Yu scored his second goal in this year’s ACL to help Shenhua seal the victory.(Xinhua)