Ten-man Yokohama down Sydney FC to move into Group H top spot

HONG KONG: Yokohama F Marinos moved to the top of Group H in the Asian Champions League when Kevin Muscat's side handed Sydney FC a 3-0 defeat despite playing with 10 men for almost a third of the game in Ho Chi Minh City on Monday.

Yokohama's win and a 1-1 draw for Jeonbuk Motors against Vietnam's Hoang Anh Gia Lai (HAGL) means the Japanese side hold a one point lead over the South Koreans with two matches remaining.

Only the winners of the five groups in east Asia are sure to reach the last 16, where they will be joined by the three clubs with the best runners-up records.

Yuki Saneto's diving header gave Yokohama a sixth minute lead and Takuma Nishimura doubled the advantage five minutes later when he struck from close range after a tight turn left the Sydney defence in his wake.

Ryotaro Tsunoda was sent off following an innocuous-looking tussle with Patrick Wood in the 63rd to give Sydney a lifeline, but Anderson Lopes' header three minutes from time put an end to the prospects of a comeback for Steve Corica's team.

Sydney's chances of advancing now hang by a thread and the Australians must win both of their remaining matches while other results need to go their way for them to have any hope of taking one of the runners-up spots.

Jeonbuk, meanwhile, were held to a 1-1 draw by HAGL despite Moon Seon-min giving them the lead after 17 minutes.

Moon, who scored an injury time winner against HAGL in their previous meeting on Friday, was on target against the Vietnamese side again when he headed in Lee Seung-gi's corner.

But Kiatisuk Senamuang's team fought back and Nguyen Van Toan capped a fine individual performance when he raced through the Jeonbuk defence to fire a shot into the top corner in the 62nd minute.

In Group J, Vissel