The second day of the fourth group-stage matches in the AFC Champions League（ACL） saw Kawasaki Frontale share the spoils with Guangzhou Evergrande in a scoreless draw and Kashima Antlers suffer an away defeat 1-2 against Brisbane Roar of Australia. While Kawasaki drew all four matches of the competition, Kashima fell to second place after a loss in Australia in Group E.

Despite the poor weather conditions with heavy rain and strong winds, Kawasaki with three draws so far in the Asian competition searched to get back to their winning ways, but visitors Guangzhou, champions of the Chinese Super League six seasons running and two-time winners of the ACL, took the early initiative and threatened the Japanese goal.

Having drew a home game 1-1 against Kawasaki in the previous group-stage match of the ACL, Guangzhou had two key midfielders playing for their respective national teams, Brazilian PAULINHO and Chinese ZHENG Zhi, string passes in midfield and create chances for the Chinese side, while the receiving ends of the build-up plays were two forwards Ricardo GOULARD, a former Brazilian International, and ALAN, who both looked for opportunities to open the scoring by firing shots at Kawasaki’s goal.

Goal-scoring chances for Guangzhou came off a pair of free kicks, both taken and directly fired at goal by Paulinho in the 11th and 31st minutes, and a long-range shot by Alan after 35 minutes, but all those attempts were denied by Kawasaki’s goalkeeper JUNG Sungryong.

Against the opponents with quick pressing and swift transitions, Kawasaki lacked the creativity to construct effective build-ups in midfield as they missed midfielders OSHIMA Ryota with injury and NAKAMURA Kengo who stayed on the bench in the first half. Even after an interception, they were unable to string passes and made simple passing errors giving away possession to the Chinese counterparts. A near attempt came off an individual effort in the 32nd minute when forward RHAYNER surged up the middle and fired a shot from range, but missed the target and blazed over the crossbar.

Ending the first half with a scoreless tie, Kawasaki replaced midfielder anchor ITAKURA Ko with playmaker Nakamura after the break, as later commented by coach ONIKI Toru, “We were looking to win the match in the second half.” Furthermore, forward MORIMOTO Takayuki was subbed in for midfielder NOBORIZATO Kyohei in the 58th minute, and then the Kawasaki club gradually found their attacking rhythm as they started to connect better passes in middle of the pitch, and further helped by the dropping work-rate from the Chinese side. Despite spending more time in the opposing end of the pitch, Oniki’s men still failed to create decisive goal-scoring chances.

Some threatening moments for Guangzhou came in the 69th minute as midfielder HASEGAWA Tatsuya quickly reacted to the loose ball and fired a left-footer off Nakumura’s blocked shot and after 85 minutes when midfielder Eduardo NETO fired just outside of the penalty box, but both attempts were denied by the Chinese goalkeeper. Unable to find the former ACL champions’ net until the end of regulation time, Kawasaki Frontale shared the spoils with Guangzhou Evergrande in a scoreless draw.

Match Details (Japanese version only)

As a result, Kawasaki with four straight draws have four points in Group G, On the same date, Suwon Samsung Bluewings (Korea) routed SC Eastern SC (Hong Kong) 5-0 and increased their points to eight to top the group. In the second place are Guangzhou with six points, followed by Kawasaki. Eastern with one point remained in the bottom of the group. With only two games remaining, the difficult situation continues for Kawasaki as they have a chance of facing elimination if they fail to secure points against group leaders Samsung in an upcoming away match on Tuesday 25 April. However, they will clinch a spot in the knock-out stages if they win both remaining matches.

Kashima suffer defeat from Brisbane

Kashima headed to Australia to contest an away rematch of the previous group-stage encounter, but suffered a bitter defeat against group-bottom and winless Brisbane Roar, whom they beat 3-0 in the last meeting at home. Lacking two forwards KANAZAKI Mu and Pedro JUNIOR due to injuries, the Japanese club had to start season debutant KANAMORI Takeshi as one of the two forwards. However, the Australian side found themselves ahead in the 16th minute as top scorer of A-League Jamie MACLAREN capitalised on a defensive error and calmly fired in a shot to the right corner of the net. After halftime, the Brisbane club added the second off a set-piece where Brett HOLMAN reacted well to a cleared ball and struck brilliantly to double the lead.

In attempt to level the match, Kashima sent in midfielder NAGAKI Ryota and young prospect and forward ABE Hiroki in the 61st minute, and subbed in midfielder NAKAMURA Atsutaka for Kanamori after 77 minutes. Coming off the bench, Nagaki scored a goal in the 79th minute to cut his side’s deficit to a single goal, but Antlers unable to find an equaliser suffered a bitter 1-2 defeat, losing for the second time in their Asian campaign.

Match Details (Japanese version only)

As for the other match in Group E, Thai League Champions Muangthong United (Korea) edged Ulsan Hyundai FC 1-0 and extended their unbeaten record to top the group with eight points. Kashima take the second spot with six points. While Ulsan and Brisbane are level on points with four, the Korean club are placed third on goal difference. To qualify for knock-out stages by the end of the next match, Kashima need to win an away game over Ulsan and require Muangthong to at least pull off a draw against Brisbane.

Coaches' and Players' Comments

ONIKI Toru, Coach (Kawasaki Frontale)
It was a shame that we couldn’t earn the full three points. I was hoping that my players would keep a clean sheet in the first half, and snatch a win by scoring at least a goal in the second. Looking at the video footage of recent Guangzhou matches, I observed a rapid drop in their work-rate after halftime. Thus, I was expecting my men to win the match for me in the second. The plan seemed work well until halftime where we kept the opponents from scoring, but we failed to score after the break as well. Unfortunately, not everything went as planned. Looking back the entire match, I believe we lacked creative ideas to put us ahead in the match.

FW  KOBAYASHI Yu (Kawasaki Frontale)
We are certainly not in prime form, but not in poor form either. The most important thing is that we qualify for the knock-out stages, and therefore we need to shift our minds towards the remaining two matches. We do not have to feel pessimistic about our outlook now. If we win the coming away game, then our chance of getting through the group stage will be much higher. To get ourselves in better condition, we must first focus on the subsequent J. League match against Hokkaido Consadole Sapporo. I need to put a bit more pressure on myself and display strong determination to win the match.

DF  NARA Tatsuki (Kawasaki Frontale)
We certainly had a common understanding as a team that the first half would be tough, and patience and persistence would be required to keep the opponents from scoring. In the second half, we created few scoring chances, and I did not see a huge difference in the strength of the teams, but we still needed to be more clinical in our finishes to win the match. I am taking today’s result positively as we kept our hopes alive to advance to the knock-out stages by earning at least a point. We haven’t secured a win so far, but I am confident we are capable of doing so. We will be looking to show our prime form in the remaining two matches.

Luiz Felipe SCOLARI, Coach (Guangzhou Evergrande)
It was a very difficult game today as both sides were attempting to take the initiative of the match. We couldn’t come on top of an evenly-contested match, resulting in a draw to earn a single point. My players played well, but I am not fully satisfied with their performance. We have to face the result that we drew against Kawasaki. We wanted the full three points, but we still have a good chance of advancing to the knock-out stages and we will do our best to top the group at the end. Remaining two matches will be tough as well, and we need to keep our focus and make the best preparation possible.

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

Group E
26 April 2017 (Wed.) Kick-off 19:30 (TBC) ＜Local Time＞
Ulsan Munsu Football Stadium
Ulsan Hyundai FC (Korea) vs Kashima Antlers (Japan)

Group F
26 April 2017 (Wed.) Kick-off 19:30 (TBC) ＜Local Time＞
Saitama Stadium 2002
Urawa Reds (Japan) vs Western Sydney Wanderers (Australia)

Group G
25 April 2017 (Tue.) Kick-off 19:00 (TBC) ＜Local Time＞
Suwon World Cup Stadium
Suwon Samsung Bluewings (Korea) vs Kawasaki Frontale (Japan)

Group H
25 April 2017 (Tue.) Kick-off 19:00 (TBC) ＜Local Time＞
Suita City Football Stadium
Gamba Osaka (Japan) vs Adelaide United (Australia)

Match Information