By Michael Church
Sept 15 - Talking points from the week in Asian football:
AL-ITTIHAD CONTINUE WINNING START IN SAUDI PRO LEAGUE
Saudi champions Al-Ittihad recorded a second consecutive win at the start of their title defence as Laurent Blanc's side defeated Fateh 4-2 on Friday.
Steven Bergwijn scored twice for the Jeddah-based outfit, who are one of three clubs on six points after the first two matches alongside Al-Nassr and Al-Khaleej.
Sadio Mane and Inigo Martinez were on target for Al-Nassr in their 2-0 win over Al-Kholood while Josh King, Dimitrios Kourbelis and Paolo Fernandez scored in Al-Khaleej's 3-0 victory against Fayha.
KASHIMA CLOSE G ON LEADERS KYOTO IN JAN
Kashima Antlers pulled level on points with leaders Kyoto Sanga on Saturday with a 3-0 win over Shonan Bellmare after Kyoto were held 1-1 by Sanfrecce Hiroshima a day earlier.
Second-half goals from Cavric, Kimito Nono and Leo Ceara secured victory for Kashima, who moved onto 55 points with nine matches remaining of the campaign.
Kyoto earned a point when Rafael Elias scored two minutes from time to cancel out Sho Sasaki's 63rd minute opener.
{{/usCountry}}Kyoto earned a point when Rafael Elias scored two minutes from time to cancel out Sho Sasaki's 63rd minute opener.
{{/usCountry}}CHENGDU DOWN CHANGCHUN TO OPEN LEAD IN CHINESE SUPER LEAGUE
Chengdu Rongcheng opened up a two-point lead in China on Friday with a 1-0 win over Changchun Yatai, holding on for the win despite playing the last eight minutes with 10 men.
Wei Shihao put Chengdu in front in the fourth minute but a second yellow card for Wang Dongsheng left them shorthanded for the closing exchanges.
Defending champions Shanghai Port are second following a 4-2 win over Yunnan Yukun, while Shanghai Shenhua are third following their 3-3 draw with Shandong Taishan.
JEONBUK EXTEND LEAD IN SOUTH KOREA
Runaway leaders Jeonbuk Motors continued their march towards the South Korean title on Saturday with a 1-0 win over Daejeon Citizen courtesy of a 65th minute penalty from Andrea Compagno.
Gus Poyet's side lead the standings by 20 points from Gimcheon Sangmoo, who lost 2-1 to Daegu FC on Sunday.
This article was generated from an automated news agency feed without modifications to text.