Guizhou Renhe conjured a late equaliser Wednesday to hold Ulsan Hyundai 1-1 and finally end the South Korean club’s record 11-game winning streak in the AFC Champions League.
Yang Hao nodded the Chinese visitors’ leveller four minutes from time to halt Ulsan’s extraordinary sequence of victories which stretches back to their 2012 Asian title run.
Ulsan, who missed the 2013 competition, entered the match at the Ulsan Munsu Football Stadium as the only team in the tournament with a 100 percent record.
And they looked set to make it a 12th straight win when Brazilian forward Rafinha converted a 57th-minute penalty after he was fouled by Guizhou skipper Sun Jihai.
Guizhou are bottom of Group H after losing their first two matches, but they claimed their first point when Yang glanced home Sun’s cross from the right late in the game.
Despite missing out on the win, Ulsan are still unbeaten in 15 consecutive matches in the competition and they also stayed top with seven points.
But Western Sydney Wanderers moved to within a point when Labinot Haliti’s early strike earned them a 1-0 upset win over Japan’s Kawasaki Frontale, their second victory in a row.
The Pristina-born striker scored after only three minutes, turning in Tomi Juric’s pass from close range to give the Australian debutants their first ever home victory in the competition.
In Group F, Beijing Guoan moved into first place with a 2-1 home win over Australia’s Central Coast Mariners.
Veteran striker Shao Jiayi put the Chinese club ahead just second before half-time with an unstoppable low drive, and Nigerian striker Peter Utaka rounded goalkeeper Liam Reddy to make it 2-0 In the 63rd minute.
Eddy Bosnar and Glen Tifiro had both hit the woodwork for Central Coast before Utaka’s goal but the Australian club did pull one back through a Nick Fitzgerald penalty with five minutes left.
However, Beijing hung on for their first win in the competition this season, which puts them top on five points, one ahead of Japan’s Sanfrecce Hiroshima and FC Seoul.
Sanfrecce put themselves on level points with the South Korean side, last year’s runners-up, with a 2-1 home win which ended their frustrating eight-game winless run in the competition.
Tsukasa Shiotani netted the decisive goal for the J-League champions in the 78th minute, after Rafael Costa had cancelled out Yojiro Takahagi’s opener for the hosts.