Seongnam Ilhwa Chunma were held to a 2-2 draw at home by Urawa Reds, while Sepahan won 3-1 against Al Wahda in the first leg of the AFC Champions League semi-finals on Wednesday.

South Korean champions Seongnam took an early lead through Mota, the tournament's leading scorer with seven goals. But the Japanese double winners fought back in the second half with two strikes from Tatsuya Tanaka and Robson Ponte, before conceding an equaliser to Kim Do-Heon ten minutes from time.

Meanwhile, Iranian Hazfi Cup holders Sepahan went a step closer to their first appearance in the final of Asia's premier club competition, by earning a two-goal advantage over their rivals from the United Arab Emirates. Mahmoud Karimi scored twice and Moharram Navidkia added another from the spot. However, Mohamed Al Shehhi pulled one back for the visitors, who were reduced to ten men just after the half-hour mark.

Stalemate in Seongnam
Despite being outsung by a thousand-strong travelling supporters, it was the home fans who had a reason to celebrate in the tenth minute when Brazilian forward Mota collected a through pass from his compatriot Itamar before lobbing the ball over Ryota Tsuzuki.

The visitors pushed forward in search for an equaliser midway through the first half but Marcus Tulio, Ponte, and Washington failed to score on each occasion. However, the Reds came back into the game seven minutes after the restart. Ponte sent a cross from the right edge of the area to Tanaka, who headed the ball over Kim Young-Dae and into the corner of the net.

With the home side struggling to restore their advantage, Urawa took the lead in the 65th minute. Washington was pulled down by Kim Dong-Hun inside the box while trying to head the ball from Keita Suzuki's free kick, and Ponte converted the resulting penalty.

Seongnam did not give up, however, as they launched a series of all-out attacks in the closing minutes. Mota's fierce volley was tipped just over the bar by Tsuzuki in the 73rd minute, then seven minutes later, his another shot was blocked, only for the onrushing Kim Do-Heon to flick in the rebound to make it 2-2.

Karimi the hero for Sepahan
Sepahan got off to a flying start at home, with Karimi taking advantage of Al Wahda's sloppy defending to score from close range in the 11th minute. The diminutive forward was quick enough to fire home the rebound, after Leonardo Da Silva's miscued clearance was blocked by Nadir Lamyaghri.

Despite being down to ten men following Yasser Abdullah's dismissal in the 33rd minute, the visitors drew level three minutes into the second half. Ismail Matar crossed the ball from the left side of the area towards Al Shehhi, who dribbled the ball through past two defenders before unleashing a low shot past Abbas Mohammadi.

Al Wahda's joy was short-lived, however, as Karimi found the net again ten minutes later. It was another defensive mistake by Leonardo, as his attempted clearance hit defender Bashir Saeed in the face and was deflected towards goal. Lamyaghri tried to parry the ball away, only for Karimi to flick in the rebound.

Karimi was also involved in Sepahan's third goal, as he fell down in the left side of the box following a challenge from Leonardo. Captain Navidkia stepped in for the resulting spot kick five minutes from time and made no mistake to double the lead, ahead of the away leg in Abu Dhabi in two weeks time.