An expertly taken left-foot strike not only saw Neymar score his first-ever AFC Champions League goal, but it was also his first since signing for Al Hilal. 

 

In what was his fifth game for the club, the Brazilian scored the second in a 3-0 win over Nassaji Mazandaran at Tehran’s Azadi Stadium.

Not to be outdone by his fellow global superstar, Cristiano Ronaldo scored the equaliser in the 3-1 win over FC Istiklol as the UEFA Champions League’s all-time top scorer scored his first in the AFC Champions League. 

 

The Portuguese also had more shots on goal (10) and more touches in the opposition penalty area (13) than any other player on Matchday Two.

Shandong Taishan’s home game against Yokohama F. Marinos was their first in front of their own supporters in the AFC Champions League since June 2019.

 

And the fans in Jinan welcomed them back in fine fashion, with 43,783 turning out in what was not only the largest attendance of the week, but of the 2023 edition so far. Sadly for the majority at Jinan Olympic Sports Centre, their team lost 1-0. 

After two rounds of fixtures, five players have got on the scoresheet on both matchdays: Al Ain’s Kodjo Laba, Incheon United’s Hernandes Rodrigues, Air Force Club’s Ali Jasim, Urawa Red Diamonds’ Jose Kante and Leonardo of Zhejiang FC. 

 

Laba’s strike in the 4-2 win over Ahal FC took him to three for the campaign, the same tally as Hernandes, who scored one in his side’s 4-0 victory against Kaya FC-Iloilo. 

 

Jasim’s early goal in the 2-1 win against AGMK, meanwhile, added to the double he scored two weeks ago. The trio are now tied with Ulsan Hyundai’s Martin Adam at the top of the scoring charts. 

Collectively, Incheon and Urawa have scored more goals than any other side, both of them finding the back of the net eight times across their two matches. 

 

The K League debutants have hit four goals in each of their games to pick up a perfect two wins from two, while defending champions Urawa’s 6-0 victory over Hanoi FC followed up a 2-2 draw at Wuhan Three Towns on Matchday One. 

On Matchday One, it was Korean teams who posted a perfect four wins from four, this time round it was those from Japan. There were the aforementioned wins for Urawa and Yokohama, while Kawasaki Frontale’s 1-0 victory against Ulsan made it two victories from two for them. 

 

Perhaps most impressive was J2 League side Ventforet Kofu, who netted late against Buriram United to secure a famous 1-0 win at Japan National Stadium – their first-ever victory in the AFC Champions League. 

Melbourne City’s Curtis Good made more clearances (14) than any other player on Matchday Two as the A-League side ran out 2-1 winners away in China PR against Zhejiang. 

 

The three points marked a rare group stage win in China for Australian sides with the last time coming in May 2015, when the then defending champions Western Sydney Wanderers beat the soon-to-be champions Guangzhou FC 2-0. 

And finally, it’s been a good debut AFC Champions League campaign for Air Force Club’s 19-year-old Ali Jasim, who has starred on Matchdays One and Two to help his side top the Group C standings.

 

As well as being joint top of the scoring charts, this week Jasim completed more dribbles (6) than anyone else on the continent as the Iraqi side beat Uzbekistan’s AGMK 2-1.