Anderson Lopes and Yan Matheus scored in either half as Yokohama F Marinos beat China's Shandong Taishan 2-1 Wednesday in the first leg of their Asian Champions League football quarterfinal.
The Japanese club will take a one-goal advantage into the March 13 second leg at International Stadium Yokohama. They have reached the quarterfinals of the continental tournament for the first time.
Lopes, the J-League's joint top scorer last season, pounced on a deflected ball inside the penalty area and turned it into the net seven minutes into the match at Jinan Olympic Sports Center Stadium in Jinan, China.
Matheus doubled the lead in the 69th minute when his pass-like shot from just outside the box got past Shandong defenders and left goalkeeper Wang Dalei stranded.
Late substitute Chen Pu got one back for the Chinese side in the first minute of injury time, but it was too little, too late.
"It was a very good team performance, but I wish we could score more goals," Matheus said. "We expect a tough second leg. We'll just try to play better than today."
Marinos and Shandong played each other twice in the group stage, with the Yokohama-based club, coached by former Australia international Harry Kewell, winning both, 3-0 and 1-0.
Shandong reached the quarterfinals by beating Kawasaki Frontale 6-5 aggregate in the round of 16.
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