The first leg of the all-Japanese AFC Champions League (ACL) 2017 quarter-final took place on Wednesday 23 August, and hosts Kawasaki Frontale beat Urawa Red Diamonds 3-1 with a brace from forward KOBAYASHI Yu. Second leg of the quarter-final will be held on Wednesday 13 September at Saitama Stadium 2002.

It was the first encounter of the two Japanese clubs in the quarter-finals since 2009. Seeking for a place in the semi-finals for the first time, Kawasaki against Urawa, who were looking to defend solidly and hit on the counter-attacks, dominated possession and patiently waited for chances to score goals. After taking the initiative by opening the scoring in the first half, the hosts continued to demonstrate their strength in attacks and took control of the match until the end. One of the statistics that shows such dominance was the number of shots. While Kawasaki tallied a total of 18 shots, Urawa merely had 4 attempts at goal.

Kawasaki’s ACL campaign ended in the quarter-finals in both 2007 and 2009. In an attempt to avenge the previous defeats, not only did they outshine the Reds with fantastic attacking flairs, but also their defence against Urawa’s counter-attacks was outstanding. Even when they were dispossessed, they quickly cornered their opponents and regained control of the ball by making swift defensive transitions.  

Some of the early chances for Kawasaki came in as ABE Hiroyuki reacted to cross after 22 minutes and Kobayshi and defender ELSINHO threatened the opponents’ goal in the 26th and 31st minutes, respectively.

The game finally saw a change in the scoreline two minutes later. After an exchange with midfielder IENAGA Akihiro, midfielder NAKAMURA Kengo dribbled up to the left-side of the penalty area and his cutback was tapped in by Kobayashi waiting in front of the goal.

Urawa, on the other hand, focused their efforts in defence and entered the game with five defenders in the backline and three holding midfielders as they lost midfielder KASHIWAGI Yosuke during warm-up from injury. Additionally, forward MUTO Yuki was not physically fit and could not start the game as coach HORI Takafumi explained later, ‘he is suffering from accumulated fatigue’. Missing their key offensive players, Urawa could not find their rhythm in attacks. 

In an attempt to bring some attacking arsenal into the game, Urawa subbed in Muto for forward LEE Tadanari from the beginning of the second half, but it was Kawasaki who took control of the match by extending their lead in the 50th minute. After receiving a pass from midfielder EDUARDO NETO, Kobayashi evaded a challenge of a defender and fired a shot at goal. However, Urawa’s goalkeeper NISHIKAWA Shusaku could not parry it away to safety. Waiting on the far side, Elsihno slotted the deflection into the back of the net to give his side a two-goal advantage.

Thereafter, Kobayashi slipped past ACL debutant and Urawa’s recently acquired defender MAURICIO to strike a shot at goal in the 56th minute and Nakamura fired from range after 62 minutes. Even though a pair of attempts did not find the net for the Kawasaki club, they continued to showcase their menacing attacks.

Urawa brought in forward RAFAEL Da Silva in the 70th minute to change the flow of the game. Then, Muto latched onto a long ball from midfielder AOKI Takuya, who started the game in replacement of injured Kashiwagi, and beat the offside trap to nail home an important away-goal on 76 minutes to reduce the Kawasaki’s lead to a single goal. However, the Reds struggled in creating effective goal-scoring chances thereafter.

On the other hand, Kawasaki continued to threaten Urawa’s goal and another moment of attacking spark came from Kobayashi in the 85th minute. Ienaga split past two defenders to send in a brilliant cross from the left side of the penalty area and his delicate lobbed ball was met with a header by twenty-nine year old captain Kobayashi who composed slotted into the far side of the net. As later described by playmaker Nakamura ‘that was the key to the game’, Kawasaki restored a two-goal lead to secure a 3-1 win over Urawa in their first meeting of the quarter-final.

In the other quarter-final match in the Eastern Region, Shanghai SIPG came on top of the all-Chinese crash 4-0 against Guangzhou Evergrande on Tuesday 22nd. In the Western Region, hosts AL AIN (UAE) were held to a scoreless draw by AL-HILAL (KSA), while PERSEPOLIS (Iran) at home came from behind and shared the spoils with AL-AHLI (KSA) in a thrilling 2-2 draw. Up until the semi-finals, the ACL competition is divided into Eastern and Western Region. The winners of each region will square-off against each other in the final of the tournament.

Coaches' and Players' Comments

ONIKI Toru, Coach (Kawasaki Frontale)
My players have shown their strong determination from the first half and their high work-rate both offensively and defensively. I must praise my players for keeping their composure and aiming for the third goal even when the opponents scored and changed the scoreline to 2-1. However, we only finished the first half of a two-leg tie. We haven’t booked a place in the semi-finals and must brace ourselves for the second meeting. (Despite the first half when we had stretches where we couldn’t string effective passes in midfield) I felt that we can do much better. During the halftime break, I told my players, ‘we can create plenty of scoring chances with minor adjustments’. I believe my players made the necessary adjustments in the game and won the match.

MF NAKAMURA Kengo (Kawasaki Frontale)
In the match that will be decided by a two-leg tie, the opponents had to come forward and attack after they were down 2-0. It was regrettable that we conceded a goal, but the third goal that restored the two-goal lead was very crucial. Of course, it would have been better if we have scored more goals. We won today, but this is only a first half of a two-leg tie. The next one will be a home game for our opponents. With still a month before the second leg we must consider that our opponents will be a different team and brave ourselves for the next match.

FW KOBAYASHI Yu (Kawasaki Frontale)
We entered the match with a strong determination and every player put their best efforts on the pitch and performed well. I believe that hard work paid off. There was a negative mood in the team when we conceded a goal after leading 2-0. However, I encouraged my teammates and advised to follow the instructions of our coach made during halftime. We did exactly as instructed by keeping possession and capitalising on the scoring chance. In regards to the third goal, Ienaga delivered a delicate lobbed cross that I had all the time to focus and nail it home. I also think that the Urawa supporters are wonderful and certainly will provide a strong motivation for the opponents to perform well.

HORI Takafumi, Coach (Urawa Red Diamonds)
Kawasaki is one of the teams that can play possession football, and we were thinking before the match that we need to compete with patience. We were forced to defend for a long period of time and had no more energy left towards the end of the game. We failed to cope well with their attacks as well. However, we put forth some effort to score and cut the lead to half. However, it was disappointing that we allowed the opponents to score again. We will consider positively that we can take this away goal and compete in the second leg of a tie at home.

GK NISHIKAWA Shusaku (Urawa Red Diamonds)
I believe if we could have kept the opponents from scoring in the first half, then the outcome of the match might have been different. We have injured players as well as players returning from injuries. It will take an all-out effort of the entire team to win the quarter-final. We will now shift our focus to the coming league matches.

FW MUTO Yuki (Urawa Red Diamonds)
I believe that an away goal will be the key in deciding the winners. We are looking to take advantage of the home game in the second leg. We certainly need to score at home, but we also cannot allow the opponents to score as well. We need to make necessary adjustment to cope with the strong attacks from the Kawasaki side. I expect a tough match and we need to be on the same page before we face them in the second leg. We have prevailed against Jeju United in the Round of 16 after losing the first leg 2-0. Our supporters believed in us and cheered us up until the end of the match. We need to reply to their strong support and work hard as a united team.

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

2nd Leg - Quarter finals
13 September 2017 (Wed.) 19:00 Kick-off
Saitama Stadium 2002
Urawa Reds (Japan) vs Kawasaki Frontale (Japan)

Tournament Information