By Michael Church
HONG KONG (Reuters) – Talking points from the week in Asian football:
MITROVIC HAT-TRICK DOWNS AL-ITTIHAD AS AL-HILAL GO TOP
Al-Hilal moved top of the Saudi Pro League after Aleksandar Mitrovic’s hat-trick helped them rally to a 4-3 win over reigning champions Al-Ittihad in Jeddah on Friday.
The former Fulham forward cancelled out Romarinho’s 16th minute opener but goals from Karim Benzema and Abderrazak Hamedallah gave Al-Ittihad a two-goal lead at halftime.
Mitrovic then struck twice in five minutes to level the scores at 3-3, completing his hat-trick from the penalty spot in the 65th minute, before Salem Al Dawsari hit the winner with 19 minutes remaining.
Al-Ittihad and Al-Ahli had been the only teams left with perfect records going into the weekend’s games but a 5-1 loss to Al-Fateh saw Al-Ahli’s winning start also ended.
Al-Hilal top the table with 13 points, level with Al-Taawon, who beat Al-Wehda 4-1.
JEAN PATRIC STRIKES TO RETURN VISSEL TO TOP SPOT IN JAPAN
Vissel Kobe defeated Kyoto Sanga 2-1 on Sunday to return to top spot in Japan after Yokohama F Marinos lost 2-0 to Kashiwa Reysol, second-half goals from Yuto Yamada and Matheus Savio condemning the defending champions to a second straight defeat.
Taichi Hara gave visitors Kyoto the lead in the sixth minute but Shuhei Kawasaki pounced on a defensive error 12 minutes later to level and Jean Patric hit the winner for Kobe seven minutes into the second half.
Kobe, who announced the signing of former Spain midfielder Juan Mata on Sunday, lead Marinos by two points with eight games remaining.
ULSAN SLIP UP AGAIN AS POHANG REDUCE DEFICIT
Ulsan Hyundai saw their lead cut to eight points on Sunday with a 2-0 defeat by Gwangju FC, allowing Pohang Steelers to narrow the gap after two second-half penalties from Zeca and Wanderson gave them a 2-0 win over Incheon United.
Defending champions Ulsan have won only once in their last five league matches as goals from Lee Kun-hee and Beka Mikeltadze earned third-placed Gwangju the victory.
CHINESE SUPER LEAGUE CHAIRMAN LIU PLACED UNDER INVESTIGATION
Senior Chinese soccer official and chairman of the Chinese Super League, Liu Jun, was placed under investigation for suspected serious violations of discipline and law, China’s anti-graft watchdog said on Wednesday.
Liu was previously chairman of now-defunct Chinese Super League side Jiangsu Suning and was appointed chief executive of Italian Serie A side Inter Milan in 2016, soon after the club was purchased by the Suning Holdings Group.
The move came six months after Chinese Football Association chairman Chen Xuyuan was placed under investigation for suspected serious violations of discipline and law.
(Reporting by Michael Church, Editing by Peter Rutherford)
