A SPECTACULAR strike from makeshift midfielder Chiu Chun-ming gave Hong Kong champions Eastern a precious 1-0 victory over Japan's Yomiuri Verdy in the first leg of their Asian Club Championship first-round tie at Mongkok Stadium yesterday.
After moving from sweeper to midfield to keep a tight rein on Yomiuri's Brazilian playmaker, Barreto Bismarck, Hong Kong international Chiu found himself supporting his attack midway through the second half.
And when Paul Nixon's right-wing cross was cleared to him 25 yards out from the visitors' goal, the Eastern man chested the ball down and cracked a dipping right-foot drive into the top left-hand corner of Yomiuri 'keeper Shinkichi Kikuchi's goal.
It was a strike worthy of winning any tie - but Eastern must now defend this slender lead in the second leg, which will be played in front of a sell-out 65,000-crowd at the national stadium in Tokyo on October 27.
A delighted Chiu, who is known as lat jiu, meaning 'Chilli', said: ''In the last two years I've played mainly as a sweeper or a stopper so it was nice to push up and even better to score a goal like that.
''We found it very hard in the first half because they were strong in midfield and kept us under pressure but we played much better in the second half.