The AFC Champions League (ACL) had its third matchday of the group stage on 18 March. Gamba Osaka drew with Group F leaders Buriram United (THA) 1-1 at home after allowing a late equaliser. In Group F, Kashima Antlers fell to Guangzhou Evergrande (CHN) 3-4 on the road. After three matches, Gamba with one draw and two losses and Kashima with three consecutive losses were thrown into tough situations as the both J.League clubs may be eliminated from the group stage depending on the results of the next match in their respective groups.

Gamba’s home contest against Thai Premier League champions was played in heavy rain. Gamba held off Buriram’s early attack with goalkeeper HIGASHIGUCHI Masaaki’s fine save and gradually started taking the initiative. In the 11th and 13th minutes, midfielder ABE Hiroyuki cut in with forward USAMI Takashi’s passes and fired shots, but they were denied by the opposing defenders and goalkeeper.

Gamba continued to attack well using sides and middle space. In the 34th minute, Usami threatened the opposing goal with a blast. The opening goal came in the 39th minute. Usami received a pass from forward Patric, sneaking out of the right flank, and turned around to fire a shot. The ball was parried by the opposing goalkeeper and hit off the post before Abe, who followed it up, tapped it into the back of the net with his left foot.

Upbeat Buriram, winning both the two matches so far in the group stage, scared Gamba with forward Gilberto Macena’s shot in the 44th minute. In the second half, as Buriram tried to fight back and intensified the pressure on Gamba, the Thai side, once winning the ball, delivered passes to up front Diogo Luis to get close to goal. Finally in the 62nd minute, defender Theerathon Bunmathan found an equaliser with his free kick. In the 66th minute, Usami blazed a right-footed volley from a cross by Abe, who ran up on the right flank, but it went over the crossbar.

After that, the Osaka side replaced midfielder OMORI Kotaro with forward Lins and Usami with forward AKAMINE Shingo to go on attacks, yet were too hasty and resulted in lacking passing and finishing accuracy. In the 84th minute, Abe broke through the right flank and fired a shot, but it was off target. In the closing minutes, Gamba earned a free kick and a corner kick but failed to create goal-scoring opportunities, which held the score a tie until the end.

Despite becoming domestic treble-winners last season, Gamba sit fourth place with one draw and two losses in this tournament, earning only one point after three matches. Buriram kept top spot with seven points, followed by Seongnam FC (KOR) at second with six points and Guangzhou R&F (CHN) at third with three points. Gamba face Buriram again in the next match on the road.

Meanwhile, Kashima met 2013 ACL champions Guangzhou Evergrande in China. Although Kashima allowed Brazilian forward Ricardo Goulart to open the scoring from his free kick, the Japanese side ended the first half 1-1 after forward TAKASAKI Hiroyuki levelled on terms by tapping in a deflection from midfielder DOI Shoma’s shot in the 36th minute. In the 51st minute, DOI stabbed the rebound of ENDO Yasushi’s strike to put his side ahead. Yet Kashima conceded goals by forward Elkeson six minutes later and Goulart in the 62nd minute to make it Kashima’s 2-3 down. Guangzhou added one more in the added time for a two-goal lead. Just after that, midfielder SHIBASAKI Gaku met midfielder MOTOYAMA Masashi’s cross to cut down the gap to one goal, but the final whistle was blown shortly as Kashima fell short to Guangzhou 3-4.

As a result, while Kashima stagnate at fourth place after the third consecutive loss, Guangzhou keep top spot with the third consecutive win. Defending ACL champions Western Sydney Wanderers (AUS) settled for a 0-0 draw with FC Seoul (KOR) and stand at second place with four points, followed by third-placed Seoul by goal difference. Kashima welcome Guangzhou Evergrande at home in the next fixture.
The next matches are scheduled on 7 and 8 April.

Head Coaches and Players' Comments

HASEGAWA Kenta, Head Coach (Gamba Osaka)
After our opening goal, it appeared we would be able to score more but weren’t able to, and allowed them to equalise through one free kick. Other than there was a dangerous moment early on a free kick once, we were thoroughly in control in the first half. In the second half, we made more mistakes possibly because of the fatigue from the recent series of matches or wear-out by intense contact plays against Asian opponents. It was a match we could have won, but we made the match difficult by ourselves. At the end of the day, we got only one point, and there is no doubt we were thrown into a difficult situation with only three matches left. Yet we still have three matches ahead, and if we win all three, we still have a possibility to advance out of the group stage. So we will play them out not giving up until the very end.

MF  ENDO Yasuhito (Gamba Osaka)
It was a match where we could have as many as three goals. Match after match we have had to be patient, but we created chances and are getting better. By winning a match, we can be better, so we try to add more goals as a team and improve both offence and defence quality. One point is not good but not worst, either. If we can win three points in next match, there will be a chance for us to go up, so what we can do is to be optimistic. As there is still a possibility, we will believe in our ability and play our game.

MF  MYOJIN Tomokazu (Gamba Osaka)
It’s really disappointing we weren’t able to win the match we needed to. As well as the first half, we were going to go aggressive in the second half but struggled to control the match unfortunately. We’ve got some good side, so we will look back what to improve, win the three remaining matches and wait for the result of the other match.

DF  NIWA Daiki (Gamba Osaka)
Last year, we had a kind of winning pattern like a mood where we could win even with 1-0, but this year, such kind of mood hasn’t come up on the pitch. I thought such a mood and steadiness would appear by winning today’s match though. If we win the rest of the three matches, today’s one point might be the big one. We will make it happen to be able to look back this current situation in such a way.

Alexandre Gama, Head Coach (Buriram United)
It was a very tough match. In the first half, Gamba were in control, but in the second half, we played better because we put more pressure on the opponents and changed the midfield formation, and then we were able to equalise with a superb free kick. So I believe we deserved this result. My players did a great job. In the next match, we will be even better and make history of this tournament. Including the next match, we can play two matches at home, so I feel our final round berth is almost in our hands.

AFC Champions League 2015
More information on ACL, TV coverage