Soccer-The week in Asian football

Nagoya Grampus remain in third after their 2-1 defeat by Kyoto Sanga. ULSAN'S KOREAN TITLE CHARGE PAUSED BY BACK-TO-BACK DEFEATS Ulsan Hyundai saw their K-League lead trimmed to 12 points after the defending champions were handed a 3-1 defeat by Suwon Bluewings on Saturday as Hong Myung-bo's team lost back-to-back games for the first time this season. Jeon Jin-woo, Fejsal Mulic and Kim Ju-chan were on target for Suwon to leave Ulsan on 53 points, with the loss their second in four days following a 2-1 defeat against Incheon United on Wednesday.

Talking points from the week in Asian football: KOBE BACK ON TOP IN JAPAN AS YOKOHAMA SLIP TO KAWASAKI LOSS

Vissel Kobe staged a second-half come back to earn a 2-1 win over Sagan Tosu on Sunday and move back into pole position in the J.League after defending champions Yokohama F Marinos slipped to a 1-0 loss against Kawasaki Frontale. Marinos led the standings ahead of the weekend's action, but their loss at home on Saturday came as a result of Shintaro Kurumaya's injury time winner and that result gave Vissel the opportunity to climb back to the summit.

Cayman Togashi gave Tosu the lead from the penalty spot six minutes after the break, but Yuya Osako levelled two minutes later and Jean Patrick score the winner after goalkeeper Yuji Ono parried Yoshinori Muto's low effort eight minutes from time. Kobe lead Yokohama on goal-difference having played one game fewer than Kevin Muscat's team with both teams on 43 points. Nagoya Grampus remain in third after their 2-1 defeat by Kyoto Sanga.

ULSAN'S KOREAN TITLE CHARGE PAUSED BY BACK-TO-BACK DEFEATS Ulsan Hyundai saw their K-League lead trimmed to 12 points after the defending champions were handed a 3-1 defeat by Suwon Bluewings on Saturday as Hong Myung-bo's team lost back-to-back games for the first time this season.

Jeon Jin-woo, Fejsal Mulic and Kim Ju-chan were on target for Suwon to leave Ulsan on 53 points, with the loss their second in four days following a 2-1 defeat against Incheon United on Wednesday. Pohang Steelers edged closer to the leaders with a 4-2 win over Jeju United on Sunday, with goals from Wanderson and Kim Seung-dae separating the sides late in the game.

FC Seoul are a further four points behind in third following their 1-1 draw with Gangwon FC while fourth-placed Jeonbuk Motors won 1-0 over Suwon FC. SHANGHAI PORT OPEN NINE-POINT LEAD IN CHINA AFTER WU DOUBLE

Wu Lei scored twice as Shanghai Port put on a strong second-half performance to hand Shenzhen FC a 4-1 defeat on Sunday and open up a nine-point lead over Shanghai Shenhua in the Chinese Super League. Wang Shenchao had seen his sixth-minute opener cancelled out by Zhang Yuan before the break, but Oscar restored Port's lead three minutes after the restart before Wu's brace confirmed all three points for Javier Pereira's team.

Shenhua, who are due to play Meizhou Hakka on Monday, trail by nine points with Chengdu Rongcheng a further point adrift. Tianjin Tigers, meanwhile, lost the league's last remaining unbeaten record on Saturday when two goals in four second-half minutes from Nyasha Mushekwi and Leonardo saw Yu Genwei's team slip to a 2-1 loss against Zhejiang FC.

FIFA BANS SAUDI'S AL-NASSR FROM REGISTERING NEW PLAYERS Saudi Pro League club Al-Nassr have been banned from registering new players over outstanding debts, world soccer governing body FIFA said on Thursday.

Al-Nassr, who finished second in the league last season after signing Portugal captain Cristiano Ronaldo in January, signed Croatian midfielder Marcelo Brozovic from Inter Milan earlier this month. "The club Al-Nassr is currently prevented from registering new players due to outstanding debts," a FIFA spokesperson told Reuters.

"The relevant bans will be lifted immediately upon the settlement of the debts being confirmed by the creditors concerned." According to reports, the outstanding debts are related to the transfer of Nigerian attacker Ahmed Musa, who moved to Al-Nassr from English side Leicester City in 2018.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)