The AFC Champions League 2015, the tournament to determine Asia's club champions, had its Macthday 2 of the group stage. While Kashiwa Reysol thrashed Binh Duong (VIE) 5-1 at home to move up to the top of Group E, Gamba Osaka fell to Seongnam FC (KOR) 0-2 on the road for their second consecutive loss.

As Kashiwa got the match off to a quick start with aggressive attacks, their three up front forces, forwards Kudo Masato, Cristiano and Otsu Yuki went close to the opposing goal, but Binh Duong showed solid defence led by defender David Vrankovic and Tu to play on speedy counter-attacks coordinating with up front players. The deadlock was broken in the 42nd minute. Kashiwa’s Cristiano slotted in a grounder from the right flank after receiving a long pass from defender Eduardo before Kudo put it into the net with his right foot.

Two minutes later, the J.League side again connected the ball just as the opening goal. Eduardo passed to Christiano with floated and crisp one-touch passing and then the ball toward Kudo was deflected off defender Vrankovic, who was marking Kudo in front of goal, mistakenly put it directly into his own net despite his clearing effort. Kashiwa ended the first half 2-0.

Kashiwa did not back off from their attacking challenges in the second half. In the 56th minute, defender Kim Chang Soo rushed behind the opposing back-line for BARADA Akimi’s through ball and netted it with his right foot for Kashiwa’s third goal. In the 67th minute, after Otsu flicked on a right corner kick at the near post, Kudo tapped it into the net with his header at the far post for his second goal of the day to make it 4-0. Eight minutes later, midfielder OTANI Hidekazu netted a right-footed middle-range drive to extend his side’s advantage to 5-0.

Binh Duong, looking for the first victory of their ACL campaign, substitute midfielder Mai Tien Thanh and Vietnamese international forward Le Cong Vinh, who played on Consadole Sapporo last year, fired shots from distance in the 53rd and 65th minutes respectively, but both shots were denied by Kashiwa goalkeeper SUGENO Takanori. In the 82nd minute, however, Ganiyu Oseni netted Le Cong Vinh’s long pass to give his side the first goal of the match.

As a result, Kashiwa got four points equal to Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors (KOR), who defeated Shandong Luneng FC (CHN) 4-1, and moved to the top of Group E on goal difference. Seongnam stand second place followed by Shandong with three points and Binh Duong with no point at the bottom of the table.

Meanwhile, Gamba changed four of the starting players from the first match at home for the away match against Seongnam FC (KOR), who won the ACL in 2010. As Gamba were pushed back by the opposing powerful attacks, midfielder OGURA Shohei brought down forward Hwang Ui Jo, who cut into the penalty box in the 8th minute. Seongnam’s forward Ricardo Bueno converted the spot kick to give his side a lead early on. Although Gamba tried to come back, they were not able to create chances as two up front strikers Patric and Lins were struggling against the opposing tight-marking.

The Japan side replaced Ogura with midfielder MYOJIN Tomokazu in the second half to rebuild their game and found offensive rhythm. In the 67th minute, however, Seongnam forward Hwang added another goal. Three minutes later, Gamba replaced midfielder ABE Hiroyuki with forward USAMI Takashi and defender YONEKURA Koki with defender FUJIHARU Hiroki. Despite such come-back efforts, J.League champions were not able to break through the opposing defence until the end to cap the second loss.

After Matchday 2, Buriram United (THA), who beat Guangzhou R&F (CHN) 2-1, took the top of Group F with six points followed by Seongnam and Guangzhou with three points. Gamba were thrown into a tough situation with no point at the bottom. The other two J.League clubs play on 4th for their first ACL win of the season?Urawa Reds face Australian A-League champions Brisbane Roar (AUS) at home and Kashima Antlers meet FC Seoul (KOR) on the road.

Head Coach and Players’Comments

YOSHIDA Tatsuma, Head Coach (Kashiwa Reysol)
I told my players today not to waste the point we earned in the away match against Jeonbuk, who we see as our biggest competitors in this group. I’m happy to make it real. The opponents had speed on their counter-attack, which we don’t have. We still have some small things to improve, but the players bravely battled it out throughout 90 minutes. There is no same type of opponents and same site every time we play a match, but I’ve found team’s growth in the players trying to think about what to do for a win and get together to make it through. We will keep up our efforts to minimise the gap between what we can do and what we can’t do.

FW KUDO Masato (Kashiwa Reysol)
I’m glad that we got three points as a team. The match went on just like we expected before the match, and it’s good that we scored five goals. But the goal we lost is what we need to look back as a team. In the first half, we spent the time struggling to score. But our front three were playing with our heart toward a goal, so I wasn’t worried. I kept on running, believing in my teammates that they would deliver the ball to me. To get a goal, we need good preparation. I will try to be prepared mentally as well, and keep it going.

MF OTANI Hidekazu (Kashiwa Reysol)
We struggled but got a point in the last match in Korea Republic. It’s good we won three points today and I’m happy to score a goal. Everyone in our team has worked out positively since the camp, and everything is going well. But we will still try to improve the quality and move forward to put up a good result.

Nguyen Thanh Son, Head Coach (Binh Duong)
Kashiwa are better than us, and my players worked hard. But we weren’t able to create chances. To get points in the ACL, I will try to give them confidence. The more they experience, the more confident they will become.

AFC Champions League 2015
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