Australia A-League champion Brisbane Roar edged Urawa Reds 1-0 while FC Seoul beat Kashima Antlers 1-0 in the second game of the second week of the group stage on 4 March in the AFC Champions League. Both of the Japanese sides took losses for their second straight games in the championship to determine the best in Asia.

Urawa came in the contest switching their starting lineup from their FUJI XEROX SUPER CUP that they played last weekend. They had Zlatan and KOROKI Shinzo up front, KAGA Kenichi as the right midfielder and UGAJIN Tomoya in the left midfield. But they quickly allowed a goal as the game kicked off.

Brisbane tried to build up their offence with passing. Midfielder Thomas Broich would have the ball in the centre field and preceded it by dodging a Urawa player and fed a pass to forward Brandon Borrello. Borrello cut inside and netted a shot with his right foot to get his team on board first.

Urawa attempted to have chances from the sides, but Brisbane's centre backs pinned Zlatan. Brisbane wouldn't let Urawa have their offence around the two and midfielder Matt Mckay. Meanwhile, Urawa tried to adjust to Brisbane, who attempted to have counter attacks from interceptions of passes, by switching the position s of Kaga and defender MORIWAKI Ryota.

Entering the second half down one goal, Urawa substituted midfielder UMESAKI Tsukasa for KAGA and forward ISHIHARA Naoki for Zlatan. They switched their formation to a one-forward one as they usually do and that worked to give them more momentum and chances to get closer to their opponents' goal. On 48th minute, Koroki, who made his first start of the year in his very first game, received a pass from midfielder KASHIWAGI Yosuke and fired a shot, but it was saved by the opponents.

But Urawa's surge didn't last too long. Brisbane forward Andrija Kaluderovic picked off a pass of defender NASU Daisuke and created a one-on-one situation with the goalkeeper. Nasu then fouled him and was immediately ejected.

Urawa tried to adjust by putting midfielder ABE Yuki down in the defensive line to switch to a 4-4-1 formation, but Brisbane gained the momentum and created more scoring opportunities from counter attacks. On 80th, forward Henrique drew near the goal, which was barely saved by Urawa goalkeeper NISHIKAWA Shusaku.

Urawa, meanwhile, threatened the Brisbane goal as Umesaki headed a shot and Koroki also attempted to put a header in with a cross of forward Lee Tadanari, but weren't able to score a goal until the final whistle.

In the other Group G game, Beijing Guoan (China) defeated Suwon Samsung FC (Korea) 1-0. With the outcome, Beijing stood atop in the group, followed by Suwon and Brisbane with three points apiece and Urawa with zero points.

Elsewhere, Kashima, who played in Seoul, Korea, changed one of the starting members from their previous game, putting a Korean national team defender Hwang Seokho as a centre back. They put on attacks from early and YAMAMOTO Shuto and SHIBASAKI Gaku threatened the opponents' goal. ON 14th minute, ENDO Yasushi's shot hit the goal post. On 35th, Endo again tried to score a goal from a corner kick, but his shot went above the goal. In the second half, midfielder Caio received a through pass from the midfield but wasn't able to put it into the goal.

On 66th, a Kashima defender cleared a free kick of Seoul, but it was picked up by Kim Jin Kyu inside the box. Kim put it in from the right side.

For Kashima, Caio attempted to directly put in a Shibasaki cross, but it was stopped by the Seoul goalkeeper. Caio tried to put the rebounded ball in but his shot went above the cross bar.

As each club played two games in Group H, Guangzhou Evergrande (China) beat Western Sydney Wanderers (Australia) on this day and became the group leader with the second consecutive win. Western Sydney followed with three points and Kashima, who have lost in both of their contests, san in the bottom of it.

The third games of the group stage will be played on 17 and 18 March.

Head Coach and Players’ Comments

Mihailo Petrovic (Urawa Reds)
We shouldn't have lost the game. As we gave up a goal, maybe from the damage of it, we preceded the game with inconsistent plays. Early in the second half, we created some good chances, but it hurt that we lost one of our men for an ejection. Our players battled through until the end. We had some good chances, but weren't able to put them in. It's frustrating that our players' efforts didn't pay off. I myself made a mistake in terms of our formation, so returned to our usual form in the second half. We'd analyzed our opponents and tried to do our best to win the game. We have very little chance to qualify through the group stage with the two consecutive losses, but we will pay our best effort to make it happen.

MF   ABE Yuki (Urawa Reds)
It was a game we must win, so the result is just disappointing. We had some good moments, but weren't able to capitalize on it for a better result and it's frustrating. We gave up a goal early and it put us in a difficult situation. While we had some chances, we lacked accuracy and our opponents determined on how they'd play their defence against our attacks. We are going to have to win all the remaining four games, and we want to do the best we can possibly do. Not that we haven't been able to put up our own football, but haven't connected it to results, so it's important to win one first. We would like to play, sticking to what we've always done.

FW   KOROKI Shinzo (Urawa Reds)
I was playing believing that I'd have some chances, but I regret that I should have score one when I had a chance. But I failed to make one, and I think my conditioning wasn't as good as I thought it would be. This result has put us in a more difficult situation, but it's not over yet.

Franciscus Thijssen, Head Coach (Brisbane Roar)
Considering the tough schedule, we hoped to play an easier game, but it actually wound up being a very tough game. Even after we struck first, both sides had some scoring opportunities. Especially after they lost a man for an ejection, we could have clinched the win, but Urawa had some players who could move faster and were advanced technically, and they were playing a very good game, so it ended up being a very close game. We weren't able to ease our minds until the end, but we were fortunate to protect the lone goal we scored early. I'm proud of our players' effort, and this victory gives us confidence to play through in the reminder of the season.

AFC Champions League 2015
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