The 4th leg of group stage of the AFC Champions League kicked off on 5 April. Urawa Reds beat the former champion Guangzhou Evergrande (China) 1-0 at home. Urawa’s forward MUTO Yuki successfully scored the goal and the team moved up to 2nd place in their group. Meanwhile, Sanfrecce Hiroshima got its 2nd win by beating Buriram United (Thailand) 2-0 away from home.

2 weeks ago, Urawa Reds drew against Guangzhou Evergrande away from home after coming back from 2 goals behind. They are also in a good condition at the top of J1 League. Their momentum and positive play were shown off in this match. 

Guangzhou Evergrande tried to attack Urawa from the beginning using side wings since they were at a higher risk of leaving this competition if they lost this match. Urawa on the other hand competed well in intensive moments to block the opponent’s attack with high level of concentration and strength. 

Urawa was good at switching defence to offence and developed quick attacks in the game. In the 24th minute, Muto threatened Guangzhou Evergrande’s goal with a long shot. Only 1 minute after the shot, midfielder UMESAKI Tsukasa caught a right cross and moved to the left side of penalty box and smashed a shot. 

In the 35th minute Muto responded well to a loose ball and cut into the penalty area to make a shot. Then in the 45th minute, Urawa’s KASHIWAGI Yosuke tried a direct shot from a free kick but both shots couldn’t find the net. 

On the other hand, Guangzhou Evergrande continued to attack Urawa mainly by three foreign players forward Jackson MARTINEZ, Colombian squad player, forward Ricardo GOULART, former Brazilian squad player, and midfielder Paulinho, but Urawa never gave them freedom to attack further due to their intensive defense. 

The 1st half ended 0-0. In the beginning of the 2nd half, Paulinho made a shot but it hit the post. 2 minutes after his shot, Urawa’s midfielder SEKINE Takahiro made a cross from the right wing and midfielder UGAJIN Tomoya jumped into the front of the goal to take a shot. This was blocked by the opponent’s defender but this was an effective trial for the next chance for the opening goal. 

In the middle, midfielder ABE Yuki stole the ball and carried on moving the ball to the right wing. Then Sekine crossed it to Ugajin and he hit it to the centre, Muto caught it with his header and that successfully found the net. 

Urawa continued to attack Guangzhou Evergrande. Substitute player forward LEE Tadanari made a series of chances in front of the goal: Sekine in the 80th minute, Lee in the 81st minute, and another substitute forward KOROKI Shinzo made shots but all of them were blocked by Guangzhou Evergrande’s goal keeper ZENG Cheng.

In the middle of the 2nd half, Guangzhou Evergrande substituted forward GAO Lin and moved up Paulinho’s position to change their tactics to be even more aggressive. In the 76th minute, Paulinho and in in the 78th minute. Goulart threatened Urawa’s goal but goalkeeper NISHIKAWA Shusaku saved Urawa’s goal until the end.

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Urawa got its second win and the team’s total points are 7. In the same group, Pohang Steelers (Korea) lost against Sydney FC (Australia) 1-0 and that pushed Urawa in to 2nd place of their group.

Sydney FC remains at the top of the Group H with 9 points and Pohang Steelers moved to 3rd place with 4 points. Guangzhou Evergrande’s result so far is 2 draws and 2 defeats and that means they stay in 4th place on 2 points. They have a few possibility of moving up to the next stage. 

Urawa will face Sydney FC away in the next match on 20 April. 

Hiroshima got their second win

Hiroshima played against Buriram United who is the league champion in Thailand. The match was held in a severe hot weather and U-23 Japan National Team player forward ASANO Takuma was missing due to injury. Even though the condition was not easy for the team, they calmly moved the ball around, making a good rhythm and scored the opener just before the end of the 1st half.

23 year old new player forward MIYAYOSHI Takumi responded to a deep pass made by forward SATO Hisato and took a shot with his right foot and it successfully smashed into the net. 

In the 2nd half, Buriram United started counter attacks and made some decisive chances, but Hiroshima stayed patient. In the 88th minute, substitute midfielder SHIBASAKI Kosei moved the ball forward with dribbling and scored another goal. 

As a result, Hiroshima got 2 wins and 2 defeats with 6 points and are in 3rd place in Group F. They are within reach of the 2nd place Shandong Luneng FC (China) who drew against FC Seoul (Korea) 0-0 with only 1 point difference. Hiroshima still stays in the hope of going through to the knock-out stage. 

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The top team of the Group F is FC Seoul with 10 points. Buriram United could not move up from 4th place and are without any wins or points; they will to leave the competition after the remaining 2 matches of this group stage. 

Hiroshima will play against Shandong Luneng FC away from home on 20 April. 

Coach and Players' Comments

Mihailo PETROVIC, Coach (Urawa Reds)
This was one of the best matches I have experienced in my 10 years in Japan. Both teams were good at switching between defense and offense, and it was a speedy match. Guangzhou Evergrande showed aggressive play but I think we had more play that was better than them. There are wonderful foreign players in Guangzhou Evergrande, but what is meaningful is that we are better as a team. We cannot buy football by money. It was such a great match and was enough for me to forget about my backache. 

MF  MUTO Yuki (Urawa Reds)
Before the match we were talking to each other that we would play as if this was the final of the ACL; that brought us stronger mentality within ourselves and we could show our consistency in the match. We could show off that Urawa Reds is the team who can go beyond today. We want to go through to the next stage by winning the next match. 

GK  NISHIKAWA Shusaku (Urawa Reds)
As a team we could do what we wanted to do. It was good that we could compete well against these foreign players especially at moments when we needed to switch quickly and to be intensive. Guangzhou Evergrande has high quality players , but I felt we are stronger in terms of strength as a team and we could show and win the match in fact. We could keep a clean sheet, and that makes us confident. 

DF  MAKINO Tomoaki (Urawa Reds)
Even though they had more experiences that us, we could show the attitude that we enjoyed football more than them. The next match against Sydney FC is the one between the top and second placed team and we want to come back home with a victory.

Luiz Felipe Scolari (Guangzhou Evergrande)
It was a very difficult and a tough match. Urawa continued to play ambitiously even after the goal. I don’t think we lost against them and we had chances but they didn’t find the net. We are not God so we can’t always win. I am satisfied with our team’s play. I would like to celebrate Urawa’s victory. 

AFC Champions League 2016

27 January 2016 - 26 November 2016

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