Shanghai Shenhua beat Seoul 2-0, Gangwon edge Vissel Kobe 4-3 in AFC Champions League

Chinese Super League club Shanghai Shenhua claimed their first win in the league phase of this season's AFC Champions League Elite, beating South Korean side Seoul 2-0 at home. The victory lifted the hosts to fifth place with four points from three games.

Shanghai missed an early opportunity to score, as Luis Nlavo saw his shot pushed aside by Kang Hyun-mo's toe. The forward from Equatorial Guinea came close again in the 14th minute, but Kang denied him once more.

Defender Wilson Manafa tested Seoul's goalkeeper with a curling shot in the 40th minute, but Kang was able to tip aside the ball with his fingers.

Shenhua finally broke through in the 57th minute, when Nlavo headed in a cross from Joao Teixeira.

At the other end, 25-year-old goalkeeper Xue Qinghao stayed busy, producing several superb saves to protect the home side's lead.

Despite Seoul attempting to make a late push, Shanghai sealed the win in the 89th minute when Wilson Manafa set up Andre Luis, who found the net to wrap up Shenhua's 2-0 victory.

In another AFC Champions League Elite contest in South Korea, hosts Gangwon claimed a dramatic 4-3 victory over Japanese club Vissel Kobe.

Gangwon took the lead in the seventh minute through Lee Sang-heon, before Mo Jae-hyeon doubled their advantage by heading in after a corner kick in the 21st minute.

The hosts struck again in the 43rd, when Song Jun-seok fired through traffic into the bottom corner to make it 3-0.

Vissel Kobe fought back in the second half, with Taisei Miyashiro scoring in the 48th minute to get the visitors on the board, and Jean Patrick netted their second goal a minute later.

Miyashiro then made it 3-3 in the 89th minute with his second goal of the game.

But the fifth minute of stoppage time saw Kim Gun-hee come up with the winner to seal a 4-3 triumph for the hosts. The victory lifted Gangwon to third place, level on six points with Vissel Kobe, but trailing due to goal difference.

South Korea's Ulsan sit on top of the table with seven points.