Soccer-The week in Asian football

Talking points from the week in Asian football:

AL-ITTIHAD CONTINUE WINNING START IN SAUDI PRO LEAGUE Saudi champions Al-Ittihad recorded a second consecutive win at the start of their title defence as Laurent Blanc's side defeated Fateh 4-2 on Friday.

Steven Bergwijn scored twice for the Jeddah-based outfit, who are one of three clubs on six points after the first two matches alongside Al-Nassr and Al-Khaleej. Sadio Mane and Inigo Martinez were on target for Al-Nassr in their 2-0 win over Al-Kholood while Josh King, Dimitrios Kourbelis and Paolo Fernandez scored in Al-Khaleej's 3-0 victory against Fayha.

KASHIMA CLOSE GAP ON LEADERS KYOTO IN JAPAN Kashima Antlers pulled level on points with leaders Kyoto Sanga on Saturday with a 3-0 win over Shonan Bellmare after Kyoto were held 1-1 by Sanfrecce Hiroshima a day earlier.

Second-half goals from Cavric, Kimito Nono and Leo Ceara secured victory for Kashima, who moved onto 55 points with nine matches remaining of the campaign. Kyoto earned a point when Rafael Elias scored two minutes from time to cancel out Sho Sasaki's 63rd minute opener.

CHENGDU DOWN CHANGCHUN TO OPEN LEAD IN CHINESE SUPER LEAGUE Chengdu Rongcheng opened up a two-point lead in China on Friday with a 1-0 win over Changchun Yatai, holding on for the win despite playing the last eight minutes with 10 men.

Wei Shihao put Chengdu in front in the fourth minute but a second yellow card for Wang Dongsheng left them shorthanded for the closing exchanges. Defending champions Shanghai Port are second following a 4-2 win over Yunnan Yukun, while Shanghai Shenhua are third following their 3-3 draw with Shandong Taishan.

JEONBUK EXTEND LEAD IN SOUTH KOREA Runaway leaders Jeonbuk Motors continued their march towards the South Korean title on Saturday with a 1-0 win over Daejeon Citizen courtesy of a 65th minute penalty from Andrea Compagno.

Gus Poyet's side lead the standings by 20 points from Gimcheon Sangmoo, who lost 2-1 to Daegu FC on Sunday.

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