By Michael Church
(Reuters) – Talking points from the week in Asian football:
AUCKLAND STAY TOP DESPITE THRASHING BY WESTERN UNITED
Auckland FC remained top of the A-League despite being thrashed 4-0 by Western United in the New Zealand-based club’s first defeat of their debut season.
Riku Danzaki, Noah Botic, Hiroshi Ibusuki and Matthew Grimaldi were on target for Western United, who moved up to fifth.
Melbourne Victory missed the opportunity to go top after being held 1-1 by Melbourne City on Saturday.
IRAQ LAUNCH GULF CUP DEFENCE WITH TIGHT WIN OVER YEMEN
Iraq began their Gulf Cup title defence with a 1-0 win over Yemen in Kuwait on Sunday with Aymen Hussein scoring the winner. In the other Group B game, Bahrain beat Saudi Arabia 3-2 with Mohammad Marhoon netting the crucial third.
Hosts Kuwait started their campaign in Group A with a 1-1 draw against Oman on Saturday while Qatar and the United Arab Emirates also drew 1-1.
HONG KONG SEAL EAST ASIAN FINALS BERTH
Hong Kong booked their place in the finals of next year’s East Asian Championship with a 5-0 thrashing of Guam in the final of the regional tournament’s preliminary competition.
Philip Chan scored twice for the hosts, with Nicholas Benavides, Everton Camargo and Dudu also on target.
The main competition will be played from July 6-17 and will also feature hosts South Korea, defending champions Japan and China.
THAIS FACE PHILIPPINES IN ASEAN CHAMPIONSHIP SEMIS
Defending champions Thailand will take on the Philippines in the semi-finals of the Asean Championship after topping Group A of the regional competition, while Singapore face Group B winners Vietnam.
(Reporting by Michael Church, Editing by Peter Rutherford)
