Shenzhen beat Jubilo Iwata

Shenzhen:

In a Group E curtain raiser, China's Shenzhen Jianlibao entertained Japanese J-League powers Jubilo Iwata as both teams kicked-off their 2005 Asian Champions League campaigns. Shenzhen, in orange, had the best of the first-half chances. Eight minutes into the match, former Frankfurt striker (3) Chen Yang rose highest at a corner but Jubilo keeper (21) Yohei Sato managed to parry the ball away. In the 30th minute, Sato produced the goods again, stopping (30) Marek Zajac from close range from another corner kick as the interval arrived with the score still goalless. But in the 56th minute, finally, a Shenzhen corner was turned in to a goal when (9) Li Yi headed it past the overworked Sato to give the underdog hosts a one-nil lead. That woke up the Japanese who almost equalised six minutes later but this strike from (24) Kim Jin-kyu hit the woodwork and then (8) Rodrigo Grahl missed from the rebound. The other part of Jubilo's Korean connection had the last chance to equalise four minutes from time when (16) Yong Soo-choi streaked towards the Shenzhen goal only to have his shot saved as Shenzhen hung on for a one-nil win over Jubilo Iwata on what turned out to be a nightmare opening day for J-League sides. Shenzhen will hope to continue their early momentum next Wednesday when they travel to a tough Group E match at the Suwon Blue Wings, who defeated Vietnam's Hoang Anh Gia Lai 5-1 while Jubilo Iwata look to rebound home against Hoang Anh Gia Lai. (AP)