HONG KONG - Harry Kewell was denied a winning start to life as Yokohama F Marinos coach on Wednesday as Mahmoud Eid's stoppage time header earned Bangkok United a 2-2 draw with the Japanese side in the last 16 of the Asian Champions League.

Kewell took over after compatriot Kevin Muscat resigned at the end of the 2023 season and goals from Elber and Kota Watanabe gave Marinos a two-goal cushion inside the opening 24 minutes of the first leg encounter at Thammasat Stadium.

However, Nitipong Selanon pulled one back 10 minutes from the interval and Eid equalised two minutes into stoppage time as he powered a header home.

Elber scuffed the ball over the line in the 18th minute to put the Japanese side ahead after Nam Tae-hee's cross and Watanabe doubled the lead six minutes later when Anderson Lopes deflected Ren Kato's cross into the midfielder's path.

With 10 minutes left in the half, Nitipong halved the deficit when he evaded two challenges to slip the ball between the legs of Marinos goalkeeper William Popp.

Substitute Ryo Miyaichi missed a late chance to make the result safe for Marinos and Eid punished the J.League side when he met Nitipong's cross from the right with a decisive finish.

Marinos' Ken Matsubara was sent off for a two-footed lunge on Vander Luis with seconds remaining and the teams will meet in the return leg in Yokohama next Wednesday.

Meanwhile, Jeonbuk Hyundai gained the upper hand in their all-South Korean battle with Pohang Steelers at Jeonju World Cup Stadium as goals from Hernandes and Ahn Hyeon-beom earned Dan Petrescu's team a 2-0 first leg advantage.

Hernandes gave the twice champions the lead in the 17th minute when he smashed his close-range shot in off the underside of the crossbar after Hong Jeong-ho had earlier thumped the woodwork with an effort from distance.

Pohang threatened to come back into the game in the second half, with substitute Jorge Luiz causing problems for the home side.

But Ahn's diving header in the 64th minute means Jeonbuk will go into next Wednesday's second leg at Pohang Steel Yard with a two-goal advantage.

On Tuesday, Kawasaki Frontale earned a 3-2 win over Chinese Super League side Shandong Taishan to take a narrow lead into the second leg in Japan next week. REUTERS