Urawa Reds ended up in a scoreless draw against Sydney FC (Australia) in the second day of the fifth round in the ACL Champions League group stage, clinching the round of 16 for the first time in 2008 with one more game left to play in the stage.

However, F.C. Tokyo fell 3-0 to Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors and dropped to the third place in the group, leaving their chance to advance to the knockout round for the final round of the group stage. Sanfrecce Hiroshima have been eliminated from the tournament as they lost to Shandong Luneng FC (China) 1-0 away. 

Urawa improved to eight points in Group H, making the lead to the reigning champions Guangzhou Evergrande (China), who beat Pohang Steelers (Korea) to three points. Because Urawa have already beat Guangzhou in a head-to-head match, they have secured the second place or better in the group, which is the qualification to get through the stage. The group-leaders Sydney have clinched a spot in the knockout stage with 10 points.

Urawa, who would have gotten through the group with a draw, aggressively attacked as forwards LEE Tadanari and Zlatan threatened the Sydney goal for a few times, but weren’t able to put their shots into the net.

For Sydney, who had won three games in a row since they lost 2-0 to Urawa in their previous matchup, they came close to the Urawa’s goal around forward George BLACKWOOD and midfielder Christopher NAUMOFF, but Urawa’s defensive unit, including goalkeeper NISHIKAWA Shusaku, didn’t allow them to score playing physical defence.

In the 58th minute, forward KOROKI Shinzo came in for Zulatan and midfielder KOMAI Yoshiaki was sent onto the pitch for midfielder SEKINE Takahiro, trying to increase goal opportunities. But they weren't able to score a goal and ended up in a draw.

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Tokyo fail to clinch knockout stage for now

The Group E-leader Tokyo could’ve clinched a Round of 16 berth with a win against Jeonbuk, against whom they lost 2-1 in their first meeting away. But they missed defender MORISHIGE Masato for a suspension and weren’t able to regroup their defence. They allowed Jeonbuk to score goals.

Tokyo got closer to Jeonbuk’s goal with through passes and attacks from the right side early. In the 13th minute, midfielders HANYU Naotake and HA Daesung consecutively fired shots, but Hanyu had to exit the game as he suffered an injury in the 17th minute.

After that, Tokyo was able to possess the ball against their opponents, who played defensively, but Jeonbuk occasionally attempted to get the ball in the middle field and had counter attacks more often. In the 34th minute, forward Ricardo LOPES and midfielder LEONARDO were shaken by Jeonbuk’s one-two play, and Tokyo allowed midfielder KIM Bo kyung to net a goal.

Tokyo tried to rally back as they sent forward ABE Takuma onto the pitch from the start of the second half. But Jeonbuk relayed passes from a short counter after Tokyo lost the ball and midfielder LEE Jae Sung gave Jeonbuk a 2-0 lead with his goal in the 60th minute. Jeonbuk added another in the stoppage time as late substitute and forward GO Moo Yul put a shot into the goalmouth.

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With the result, Tokyo, who have seven points, allowed Jeonbuk, now with nine points, to take the group lead and went down to the third place. Jiangsu FC (China), who beat Becamex Binh Duong (Vietnam), took the runner-up spot with eight points. Tokyo can clinch a berth to the round of 16 with a win over Binh Duong in their final group stage game, and even with a draw they can still get through depending on Jiangsu’s outcome.

Hiroshima fall to Shandong

Hiroshima, who were in the third place going in this round, were in a situation they could get up to the runner-ups with a win and could get eliminated from the tournament with a loss. But they allowed Shandong to take a lead first as forward Diego TARDELLI scored heading in the 10th minute.

Midfielder CHAJIMA Yusuke and defender SHIOTANI Tsukasa fired middle shots for Hiroshima, but struggled to net one. Past the 60th minute, Hiroshima sent forward MINAGAWA Yusuke and midfielder SHIBASAKI Kosei onto the pitch, and had occasions that midfielder SHIMIZU Kohei and Minagawa threatened the Shandong goal, but weren’t able to score one until the end.

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Shandong improved to 10 points, clinching a knockout stage berth along with FC Seoul (Korea), who piled up 13 points with a 2-1 win over Buriram United. Hiroshima stayed with six points and finished in the third place. Buriram, who had already been eliminated from the ACL, have been winless for the bottom of the group standings.

The final round games will be played on 3 and 4 May.

Coach and Players' Comments

JOFUKU Hiroshi, Coach (F.C. Tokyo)
We wanted to clinch a knockout stage berth by winning three points before our home crowds, but it’s disappointing that we did not do that. Our players played with high motivation, but we allowed our opponents to score from a counter attack, which we were careful about. We gave up four goals in the previous J. League, so we feel like we need to regroup looking back how we lose the ball and how we need to manage the risks. Offensively, we were stopped before we were going to take shots. We would like to rethink of how we put up our attacks while avoiding goals to the opponents and move forward.

FW  HIGASHI Keigo (F.C. Tokyo)
It’s disappointing. Our opponents didn’t come hard on us and we had more time to have the ball, but we had hard time creating chances and ended up allowing the goal. I thought that we need to improve so we can manage to score against opponents who play defensively. 

FW  ABE Takuma (F.C. Tokyo)
Our opponents played solid defence and we hard tough times doing what we wanted to do. We are still in a situation that we can manage to advance to the knockout stage depending on how we do, so we should not put our heads down. We’ve kept losing so our mood isn’t so good, but instead of changing something, we need to play as a team.

GK  KAKOI Kentaro (F.C. Tokyo)
It’s frustrating. We wanted to deliver some good news to (my hometown) Kumamoto by winning.  We have our next game soon, so we want to bring a good news to them.

CHOI Kang Hee, Coach (Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors)
We were forced to play a difficult game playing away, but our players did their job and our strategy went well as well. Their second row including their side attacks with No. 38 (Higashi) and No. 44 (Abe) were something we needed to pay attention to, so we tried to hold them there while we also tried to not let them relay their through passes. I think that it was one of the reasons for our win that we tried to not be too offensive and not give them space behind our offensive players. It helped us that their captain (Morishige) was suspended, too.

AFC Champions League 2016

27 January 2016 - 26 November 2016

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