The second leg of the all-Japanese AFC Champions League (ACL) 2017 quarter-final took place on Wednesday 13 September, and hosts Urawa Red Diamonds beat Kawasaki Frontale 4-1 at Saitama Stadium 2002 and pulled off a remarkable 5-4 comeback win on aggregate to reach the semi-finals, after losing the first leg 1-3 on the road. Urawa have reached the last four for the first time in nine years (2008), while Kawasaki missed the chance of clinching their first-ever semi-final berth in the Asian competition.

Kawasaki had the advantage of the quarter-final tie by winning the first leg 3-1 at home and only required a draw or a loss with a single-goal difference to advance to the semi-finals. The visitors got off to an excellent start as they opened the scoring in the 19th minute, when defender ELSINHO collected a wonderful through pass from midfielder NAKAMURA Kengo behind the Urawa backline and dodged the challenge of the onrushing keeper to give his side an early lead.

With this goal, Urawa were faced with a daunting task of winning with three-goal difference or more to get through the quarter-finals, but struggled to orchestrate scoring chances as they lacked good off-the-ball movements upfront and Kawasaki’s strong pressing forced them to carry the ball backwards.

However, the hosts levelled the match in the 35th minute, when forward KOROKI Shinzo was put clean through with an incisive pass between the opposing centre halves by midfielder YAJIMA Shinya and directed his right-footed shot past the goalkeeper to the far-right corner. It was a wonderful exchange between the two talented Urawa players as Yajima responded to Koroji’s advice prior to the important goal, ‘we need to square up to the target’.

Kawasaki were reduced to 10 men just three minutes later, after defender KURUMAYA Shintaro was sent off for a dangerous play from clipping Korogi in the face with a high boot. This has completely changed the dynamics of the game, as the visiting team were forced to take out their star playmaker Nakamura and place midfielder TASAKA Yusuke in the backline and focus their efforts in defence for the remainder of the match.

After halftime, Kawasaki put most of their energy in neutralising the menacing attacks from Urawa who put on a different gear and went all out to score goals, and faced long stretches where they had to defend in their own end.

On the other hand, Urawa took advantage of the numerical advantage to exchange neat passes in midfield as they looked for their chances to claim the lead for the first time in the match. Midfielder KASHIWAGI Yosuke, who returned to the squad after missing five games due to injury, substitute forward ZLATAN and Korogi were all instrumental in fashioning some of the threatening attacks and provided the hosts with an attacking flair needed to spark the team.

Then, in the 70th minute, after a series of unsuccessful corners just in the second half, Urawa finally capitalised on the eighth attempt, where Korogi’s delivery was fired home with a stunning header by Zlatan to give his side a 2-1 advantage. Moreover, the Reds claimed a two-goal lead after Urawa triangulated a brilliant sequence of passes from substitute midfielder KOMAI Yoshiaki just to the left of the penalty area to Kashiwagi in the centre, and then to forward RAFAEL SILVA waiting inside the box, where the Brazilian striker made no mistake to strike a dazzling right-footer on the turn into the back of the net.

With the quarter-final tie now on level terms with an aggregate score of 4-4, Kawasaki were looking to return to their customary attacking form, but having made more defensive substitutions aside from Nakamura in first half by replacing midfielder OSHIMA Ryota with defender EDUARDO, they lacked the clinical instruments to carve open the Urawa’s defence.

On 86 minute, just two minutes after an amazing tying goal, defender MORIWAKI Ryota send in a perfectly-weighted pass to the right side of the box, where midfielder TAKAGI Toshiyuki staggered Kawasaki goalkeeper JUNG Sung-ryong with a breathtaking lobbed volley to claim one of the most astonishing comeback wins of the Asian Champions League.

Looking back at the entire game, Urawa completely dominated the match with 24 attempts at goal, while Kawasaki were held only to four shots. Reds will continue their road to the summit of Asia as they grabbed their second come-from-behind victory in the playoffs after they beat Jeju United in the Round of 16 and secured a place in the last four as a Japanese club for the first time since Gamba clinched the semi-final berth in 2015. 

On the other match-up of the Eastern Region, Shanghai SIPG had a clear advantage after grabbing 3-1 win in the first encounter over Guangzhou Evergrande at home. However, the quarter-final was all tied at four all after regulation time of the second leg, and the match stayed in the balance even after extra time with both teams scoring one goal each. The deciding moment came in after Shanghai barely edged the all-Chinese contest on penalties 5-4 to secure a spot in the last four.

As a result, Urawa will now face Shanghai SIPG in the semi-finals on 27 September (Wed.) in China and on 18 October (Wed.) at home, as they look to reach the final for the first time since 2007, when they became the crowed champions in Asia. Both teams have previous met in the group stages, where they shared the spoils with each side winning one apiece.

In the Western Region, the semi-final will see the meeting between PERSEPOLIS (Iran) who beat AL AHLI (RSA) 5-3 on aggregate and AL HILAL (RSA), after the Saudi club secured a place in the last four with a 3-0 win over AL AIN（UAE）in the second leg.

Comments

HORI Takafumi, Coach (Urawa Red Diamonds)
We were in a difficult situation after we conceded a goal early in the first half, but my players showed their strong mentality and fought hard until the end of the match. Kawasaki can play excellent possession football and we focused our efforts on not allowing them to play to their strengths by robbing the ball and keeping possession ourselves. I believe it was a significant moment in the game when Kawasaki were reduced to 10 men. Although we could have played better, we fought with resilience and scored goals as well as executing our game plan. We already know who will be our next opponents. We will analyse the team and get ready for the next match as well.

MF #10 KASHIWAGI Yosuke (Urawa Red Diamonds)
Despite being in a difficult situation after losing the first leg 3-1, we prepared for today’s game with confidence and determination that we would get through the quarter-final. I am glad that this preparation resulted in a comeback win for the team. After the opponents were reduced to 10 men, we were relentless in our pursuit of goals, but also managed our risks as well. Even after conceding a goal, I felt that ‘we can still make it’, as we kept a high level of motivation to win the game. If we keep fighting in the same manner as we did today, I believe we have a chance of climbing all the way to the summit.

FW #30 KOROKI Shinzo (Urawa Red Diamonds)
We were in a tough situation after we conceded the opening goal. I believe it was crucial that we levelled the match as well as Kawasaki’s player getting sent off in the first half. I felt a bit sorry for the straight red card, but we were also careful of not getting booked as well. In regards to the goal I scored, I just slotted in an excellent pass that was provided to me. We had clinched a dramatic win over Jeju United and shared the same feeling that we could turn around the two-goal deficit. I believe we gained some confidence after beating Kawasaki in excellent form, and this performance will provide us with some guidelines of how we should compete in the next match as well.

ONIKI Toru, Coach (Kawasaki Frontale)
Against Urawa who came out with a strong determination of winning from the beginning of the match, my players did a fantastic job until the opening goal we scored as we defended solidly and waited patiently for our chances. After our player has been sent off, I should have come up with a better strategy to manage the game better. We failed to put pressure on our opponents by scoring more away goals, but instead were forced to defend most of the time. I believe the problem was that we allowed the opponents to keep possession for too long a time.

DF #3 NARA Tatsuki (Kawasaki Frontale)
When we compete against a formidable team, having one less player on the pitch will be a strong advantage for the opponents. I was thinking that I would squash all the menacing attacks for the entire second half, but they succeed in finding small gaps in our defence. In a closely-contested game, we often say that set pieces make the difference between winning and losing. If we had a little more resilience in defending against them, then we could have gained the courage to fight through the whole game and the opponents would eventually get anxious to score goals as well. However, we conceded the second from a set piece which allowed them to pick up some momentum.

FW #11 KOBAYASHI Yu (Kawasaki Frontale)
We thought that we can take control of the the game after we scored the opening goal, but on the contrary, it was actually quite difficult. After Nakamura has been taken off the pitch, we understood our coach’s chain of thought that we would focus our efforts in defence and prevent the opponents from scoring. However, we conceded three more goals, and I must admit that we didn’t have the capacity to neutralise their attacks as well. It might be difficult to refresh our mind, but we cannot let this loss ruin our season. I am truly disappointed, but we must move forward as well.

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