AFC Champions League Two
The midfielder’s strike takes Mile Sterjovski’s side onto seven points from four matches in Group E and the A-League outfit sit in pole position, two points clear of Cong An Ha Noi with two matches remaining. The top two finishers in the standings advance to the next phase.
The home side took 20 minutes to find their way through the Cong An Ha Noi defence, Luke Vickery bursting into the right side of the penalty area to cut the ball across the six yard box for Grzan to side-foot in.
Nguyen Quang Hai was prevented from steering his header on target by Oliver Randazzo in the 28th minute as the Vietnamese side increased the pressure and, less than two minutes later, Cong An Ha Noi had pulled level.
The goal came when the Macarthur defence failed to clear a free kick from the right by Le Van Do with the ball eventually falling at the feet of Adou, and he stroked a side-footed effort into the bottom corner beyond Filip Kurto’s dive to his left.
Filip Nguyen was forced to block Grzan’s attempt after the Vietnamese goalkeeper had given possession away close to goal while at the other end Kurto had to rush off his line to deny China when he drove towards goal having outsprinted defender Tomislav Uskok.
Vickery saw his 58th minute effort deflected into the side netting by the Cong An Ha Noi defence and Nguyen Dinh Bac was denied at the other end six minutes later by a last-gasp block by Uskok.
With a quarter of an hour remaining, the hosts reclaimed the lead when Caceres unleashed a right-foot volley from 25 yards out as Hugo Gomes’ defensive header fell into his path and the shot took a wicked deflection to wrong-foot Filip Nguyen.
China almost levelled the scores with seven minutes remaining when he bent his right foot shot around Kurto only to see the ball come back off the post and bounce to safety, allowing Macarthur to take the points.
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Group E: Beijing FC (CHN) 3-0 Tai Po FC (HKG)
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Group H: BG Pathum United (THA) 2-1 Kaya FC-Iloilo (PHI)
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Group H: FC Pohang Steelers (KOR) 1-1 Tampines Rovers FC (SGP)
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Group G: Selangor FC (MAS) 2-3 Persib Bandung (IDN)
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Group G: Lion City Sailors FC (SGP) 1-2 Bangkok United (THA)
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