The second group-stage matches in the AFC Champions League (ACL) 2017 started on Tuesday 28 February. Urawa Reds won two consecutive matches by beating FC Seoul from Korea 5-2 at home, while Kashima Antlers lost an away game 2-1 to Muangthong United from Thailand, after a victory in their first match.

Urawa, who had lost to Seoul on penalties in the Round 16 last year, replaced four starting players from the game against Yokohama F. Marinos in the J.League on Saturday 25 February. The team played the match without midfielders KASHIWAGI Yosuke and ABE Yuki.

Despite a tough 11-day schedule of four games since the FUJI XEROX SUPER CUP on Saturday 18 February, including return flights to Sydney for the 1st group-stage match of the ACL, Urawa started aggressively from the beginning of the match, pressuring the opponents to steal the ball, and their forwards made swift transitions offensively and went close to the goal. Coach Mihailo PETROVIC later commented: ‘the players performed much better than I expected.’

In the ninth minute, forward MUTO Yuki, who reacted to a cross from forward KOROGI Shinzo, struck the opener. Then both teams scored five goals in total over the next 10 minutes, including Urawa’s left-footed shot in the 11th minute from forward LEE Tadanari, who received a pass from midfielder SEKINE Takahiro. Urawa took the early initiative in the match.

Since Seoul had lost their first game and were eager to win, they attacked aggressively from the start. After 14 minutes, forward PARK Chu-Young directly fired a free kick into the net.

Urawa, however, soon attacked back. One minute later, Muto hit on a counter and passed the ball to Sekine, who struck their third goal with his right foot. In the 21st minute, defender UGAJIN Tomoya added the fourth, followed by another by defensive midfielder KOMAI Yoshiaki, who reacted with his right foot to a cross from Lee, just before the end of the first half. The game went into the second half with Urawa taking a 5-1 lead.

The J. League club continued to attack after the break with Ugajin going close to the goal at the beginning of the second half by firing a shot at the crossbar.

Seoul, who won second place in the 2013 championship and reached the semi-finals for the second time last year, sent new forward MAURINHO onto the pitch after halftime to impact the game. After 66 minutes, Park aimed at goal with a header from a corner, and in the 75th minute, they subbed in forward Dejan DAMJANOVIC to strengthen their attack. Korean side attacked swiftly and lengthways, as Urawa started to show fatigue towards the end of the game. Although Damjanovic managed to score a goal during injury time, Urawa still convincingly won the match 5-2.

Match Details (Japanese version only)

It was the first time Urawa or any Japanese team to score five goals and win a game since Gamba Osaka defeated Guangzhou R&F (China PR) in the group stage of the 2015 ACL.

In the other game in Group F, Shanghai SIPG (China PR) beat Western Sydney Wanderers (Australia) 5-1, winning two matches in a row. Tied on points with Shanghai SIPG, but Urawa maintained the lead on goal difference. Neither Seoul in third place nor Western Sydney in fourth have earned any points yet.

Kashima concede a decisive goal just before final whistle

With a two-day break after the opening match of the J.League on Saturday 25 February, Kashima in Group E left for Thailand where the temperature was over 30 degrees. Under the heat considerably different from Japan, the team struggled against Thai League champions Muangthong.

Kashima changed six players from the recent J.League match with forward KANAZAKI Mu and midfielder OGASAWARA Mitsuo not even on the bench. In the 12th minute, the team let the opponents’ defender Theeraton BUNMATHAN score directly from a free kick for the opener.

In the second minute of the second half, Kashima’s forward LEANDRO sent a right cross towards forward PEDRO JUNIO who reacted to a loose ball to slot into the goal and level the game. After 84 minutes, forward SUZUKI Yuma, who came off the bench, earned a penalty kick, but he pulled it wide to the left and was unable to capitalise on the match-winning chancel. Then, during injury time, Muangthong’s forward XISCO struck a decisive goal to steal a win 2-1.

Match Details (Japanese version only)

As a result, Muangthong have four points in total with their first win and take the top spot in the group. Although Ulsan Hyundai (Korea Republic), who won a sweeping victory over Brisbane Roar (Australia), are level with Kashima on points, the Japanese club currently sit in second place thanks to their head-to-head match victory against the Korean side. Ulsan are in third place, followed by Brisbane in fourth with one point.

Kawasaki Frontale will play away against Eastern SC from Hong Kong, while Gamba Osaka will face Jeju United from Korea Republic at home on Wednesday 1 March.

Coaches' and Players' Comments

Mihailo PETROVIC, Coach (Urawa Reds)
I expected a tough match today, as we played four matches including a long journey to Sydney in a short period, while Seoul had a whole week to prepare. However, it was a pleasant surprise that the players performed much better than I predicted. We outplayed in the first half against one of the strongest team in Asia. We decided the match in the first 20 minutes, and performed really well until 70 minutes. I could see the players getting tired from a series of matches in the last quarter of the game, but I will give them full credit to their excellent performance. But we cannot always come up with a win like today. We need to keep our focus and brace ourselves for the coming matches.

FW LEE Tadanari (Urawa Reds)
I’m very pleased to be chosen as the Man of the Match in two consecutive games. Although the team have been struggling to score in recent matches, we still managed to come up with goals when needed. I believe we performed collectively as a team, which is our style of football. Even after giving up possession, we pressed the opponents quickly and reclaimed possession, which allowed us to hit them on the counter. Our high-quality performance today brought us some goals.

MF KOMAI Yoshiaki (Urawa Reds)
I think our defence was well-balanced. The team performed composedly letting the opponents have possession in certain areas, while chasing or pressing the opponents in other parts of the pitch to corner and dispossess them. Personally, I could have better contributed to the team by carrying the ball up deep from our end more frequently. So I’d like to work on those and create better build-ups.

HWANG Sun-Hong, Coach (FC Seoul)
The match became difficult due to goals scored against us in the first half. Although the players did their best, they got rattled after conceding the first goal. After allowing the opponents to take the early initiative, it was difficult to regain control of the match. However, allowing that many goals means that we couldn’t react well against the opponents’ attacks. As a result, we lost two consecutive matches and it became harder for us to get through the group stage. We need to thoroughly analyse the next opponents in order to put some pressure on them. We’ll do our best and fight until the end.

Tournament Period：24 January 2017(Tue.)～25 November 2017(Sat.)

Group G
1 March 2017(Wed.) Kick-off 20:00 (TBC)＜Local Time＞
Mong Kok Stadium
Eastern SC (Hong Kong) vs Kawasaki Frontale (Japan)

Group H
1 March 2017(Wed.) Kick-off 19:00 (TBC)
Suita City Football Stadium
Gamba Osaka (Japan) vs Jeju United (Korea)

Tournament Information