In the first day of the group stage third match of the 2016 AFC Champions League (ACL) on 15 March, F.C. Tokyo ended in a scoreless draw with Jiangsu FC (China) at home while Gamba Osaka fell 1-2 to Shanghai SIPG (China) away.

Tokyo, who have won in their last two games in a row in the J. League since their home win in the previous match in the ACL, played against Jiangsu, who had made major Brazilian acquisitions of midfielder Alex TEIXEIRA and defender Ramires. Tokyo coach JOFUKU Hiroshi said before the game that his team would try to not let Jiangsu play in their game, and they did show defence as planned around Japan National Team defender MORISHIGE Masato.

Offensively, forward Nathan BURNS moved around up front receiving the ball, and in the 12th minute, forward MAEDA Ryoichi fired a shot with a ball from the left side, but the shot went off the goalmouth.

Midfielder HASHIMOTO Kento took a shot in the 18th minute and Burns dribbled into the middle and fired a shot, both of which were middle-range ones, but they weren't able to score.

Jiangsu had opportunities that they robbed the ball, gave it to Teixeira to attack from the left side, and then Teixeira and fellow Brazilian Joao dribbled into the box. But Tokyo kept outnumbering and defended them composedly, not letting Jiangsu play how they wanted to.

Jiangsu had another chance in the 26th minute, when they dropped a free kick from the middle and Joao had a shot. But it went outside the goalpost.

In the second half, Tokyo dominated the ball and attempted to attack around left side back OGAWA Ryoya and midfielder HANYU Naotake. But despite missing defender Ramires for a suspension, Jiangsu's centrebacks Trent SAINSBURY and LI Ang solidly defended the Tokyo offence, giving them hard times to fire shots.

Tokyo still managed to have a couple of shots, when midfielder MIZUNUMA Kota ran behind the space of Jiangsu's defenders reacting to a pass from Hanyu to have a shot and midfielder YONEMOTO Takuji launched a middle shot 10 minutes later. But both shots were stopped by the Jiangsu goalkeeper. 

In the 87th minute, late substitute and forward KAWANO Hiroki attempted to have a shot reacting to a cross from the left side, but it didn't go in the goalmouth. In the Additional time of the second half, Hanyu tried to connect a cross of Ogawa from the left side at the near space, but the Jiangsu goalkeeper saved it. Tokyo held their opponents to just two shots in the first half and one in the second, but weren't able to not a goal and the contest ended in a draw. 

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In the other game in Group E, Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors (Korea) improved to six points with a 2-0 win over Becamex Binh Duong (Vietnam) to take the first place in the standings. Jiangsu are in the second place with five points, Tokyo have a 1-1-1 record for four points to stay in the third place, and Binh Duong are fourth with one point.

Meanwhile, Gamba were overwhelmed by Shanghai at their home. In the 41st minute, Shanghai connected a free kick and forward Elkeson, who joined Guangzhou Evergrande this offseason, scored a goal. Gamba entred halftime down by one.

Gamba sent midfielder KURATA Shu into the pitch for midfielder ABE Hiroyuki from the start of the second half, moving forward USAMI Takashi to right midfielder to create rhythm. It worked and forward Patrick headed a free kick from Usami into the net to tie at 1 all in the 60th minute.

Yet moments later, Elkeson scored a goal and Shanghai took a 2-1 lead.

Gamba sent midfielder FUJIMOTO Jungo in the 79th minute, trying to catch up, but weren't able to score any more goals and ended up losing 2-1. The Japanese club have been unbeaten with a record of two draws and one loss after three games. 

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In the other game in Group G, host Melbourne Victory (Australia) drew 0-0 against Suwon Samsung Bluewings FC (Korea). With the result, Shanghai too the first place in the standings with six points, followed by Melbourne with five points. Suwon tied Gamba with two points, but Gamba retained the third place in overall goals.

Sanfrecce Hiroshima will host Buriram United (Thailand) while Urawa Reds take on Evergrande (China) away on the 16th.

Coach and Players' Comments

JOFUKU Hiroshi, Coach (F.C. Tokyo)
I think that we were able to play our own collective defence, concentrating for the entire 90 minutes. That is why we wanted to have the three points, and it's frustrating that we didn't capitalize on our scoring chances. In a gut-wrenching game like this, we were able to allow our opponents to have many shots in the second half, and I believe that it was as the result that our players kept making effort, taking advantage of what they'd experienced in their J. League opener, so we would like to make this a valuable lesson and keep working on scoring goals and have better games going forward. We are not satisfied with the four points we've earned in these three games. We would like to keep piling up points in the remaining three games so we will get through the group stage.

MF  HANYU Naotake (F.C. Tokyo)
We had heard that their front were powerful, but we could control them for some extent, yet we were in a situation that we could've aimed at three points after the first half, so this result is disappointing. We've been sticking with outcomes under coach Jofuku, and for a player that gets a chance to play around the ACL like myself, I feel like I could've done something better. But at least we didn't lose and that's something we should keep doing in the J. League as well.

DF  TOKUNAGA Yuhei (F.C. Tokyo)
We were playing compactly with our front from the first half, and it got our opponents irritated. We focused for the 90 minutes and played good defence from the front. We had a chance to win so we wanted to earn the three points at home, but we've just got to switch our mind.

Dan PETRESCU, Coach (Jiangsu FC)
It was a difficult game but I'm glad that we wound up having one point in the end. It's not easy to come over to Tokyo and win one point. We played well today and I'm content with how our players played. We could've scored a goal had we had a little more luck. In our next game, we've got to win in order to advance deeper in the tournament.

AFC Champions League 2016

27 January 2016 - 26 November 2016

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