At the quarter-final 2nd leg of the AFC Champions League held on 16 September, Gamba Osaka took on Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors from Korea Republic. Substitute defender YONEKURA Koki scored the go-ahead goal in the second half’s additional time to put his side up 3-2, which gave Gamba the two matches’ total scoring of 3-2 to advance to the semi-final. This is for the first time in seven years for the club to achieve this feat. Seven years ago, Gamba won the championship trophy.

It was such a breath-taking win. In the 88th minute, Gamba allowed an equalizer, which would have eliminated the club from the tournament by the away-goal regulation. But a few moments before the last whistle was blown, the ball went from midfielder ENDO Yasuhito to KIM Jungya and to Yonekura, who left-footed the match-winning goal into the goal to moved his club ahead.

After drawing the first leg match 0-0 on the road on 26 August, forward USAMI Takashi had to be replaced by midfielder FUTAGAWA Takahiro due to the cumulative yellow cards.

Jeonbuk were looking to win the second championship since 2006, and had forward Lee Keun Ho, former Gamba and Jubilo Iwata player, lead their squad to early aggressive surge.

Four minutes after the kick-off, Lee met a corner-kick with his head to put the ball into the goalmouth, only to find it uncounted due to a foul in the play. 8 minutes later, a shot by Jeonbuk hit an arm of a Gamba defender in the box to give a penalty opportunity to the Korean club. Midfielder LEONARDO converted it to open the scoring.

Gamba did not panic. Only 1 minute later, at a free-kick by Endo, midfielder ABE Hiroyuki rushed up passing by the opposing defender who was aiming for an offside trap, and returned the ball into the middle to forward PATRIC, who put it into the back of the net to tie the match.

Later on in the 19th minute, Gamba had defender FUJIHARU Hiroki run up in the left flank and feed a cross ball to Patric. He then attempted a shot with the outside of his right foot. Then in the 37th, Patric created a 1-on-1 situation against the goalkeeper through a corner-kick. Neither opportunity, however, was materialised to earn a lead for Gamba before the first half ended with 1-1.

For Jeonbuk, drawing the second leg match was enough for them to advance to the next round because they scored the so-called away goal. On the other hand, Gamba needed nothing but a win, and started creating their rhythm in the midfield. In the 65th minute, coach HASEGAWA Kenta subbed in two players at once, replacing defender OH Jaesuk with Yonekura and Futagawa with forward LINS.

Then after midfielder KURATA Shu struck from a mid-range to earn the 2-1 lead in the 76th minute, KIM was sent onto the pitch to seal the deal.

Jeonbuk also made their own substitutions to energise their slowing-down line-up. Tall forward URKO Vera and another forward KIM Dong Chan came off the bench one after another. In the 88th minute, the newly put Vera headed in a cross from the right side by Lee Keun Ho into the goal to bring the match to a tie again.

Hasegawa later spoke of the state of his team at that moment, saying “Our determination for the win, our resilience was not lost yet.” Gamba Osaka did not stop making their efforts in the additional time, as Kurata sneaked into the space behind the defenders to fire a shot.

Then three minutes into the added time, Endo with the ball in the midfield sent a pass vertically to Kim up front, who right after fed Yonekura rushing up. “I was told to move up with our midfielders, so firing a shot was on my mind.” As Yonekura recalled after the match, he passed by the Jeonbuk’s back line, getting himself off from reaching defender, and left-footed the ball into the goal with his body tangling with the goalkeeper.

On a side note, coach Hasegawa was ejected after the go-ahead goal was scored.

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Gamba’s opponents at the semi-final have been set as Guangzhou Evergrande who won the ACL title two tournaments ago and have crowned championship last four straight years in the Super League of China. They defeated Kashiwa Reysol at the quarter-final. The first leg will take place on 30 September in China as the second leg is scheduled on 21 October at Gamba’s home.

Coach and Players' Comments

HASEGAWA Kenta, Coach (Gamba Osaka)
This is all the result of my players fighting with strong determination. We were thinking about nothing but winning this match from the beginning. So even after allowing one goal, it made me think like we couldn’t do much anyway because that was a penalty. Then it was huge that we could score one back right after that. We were supposed to win this match with the 2-1 score.

I thought my job would be done when I subbed in Kim to tighten up our defence. But it didn’t go so easy. After we had it 2-2, I told Yonekura to go up, and Kim also went up but that was the players’ decision. I didn’t expect that Kim would be the starting point of our third goal. My players helped me in that sense. (Speaking of the ejection) I got too excited and I went onto the pitch. I will support from the stands at the semi-final first leg.

DF   YONEKURA Koki (Gamba Osaka)
Winning this match was everything we wanted, so this is the best feeling I can get. After allowing the goal, we had no other choice but to go up and attack. I felt my teammates’ will to go on to the semi-final no matter what, and that resulted in this win. It is good that our good preparation paid off in getting a win like this.

MF   ENDO Yasuhito (Gamba Osaka)
It turned out to be a very tough match, but we all never gave up on winning and we showed that with our plays. (Speaking on the go-ahead goal) We didn’t have much time, and we took a gamble and pressed forward, and I passed it there hoping something will happen from there. Then Kim received and passed it uncharacteristically well for a defender. Then what happened after that was the determination of those two guys (Yonekura and Kim) won it over. I’m delighted to be able to keep playing high-level Asian matches like this.

Choi Kang Hee, Coach (Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors)
We have spent so much time for this day, so the result is very disappointing. Not being able to win our home match affected us, but at the same time drawing it was not too bad either. Our players’ physical condition was not good. We got too excited after scoring the first goal, so we allowed the equalizer soon after that. We couldn’t really create our momentum. My players did their best. It’s football, and something things don’t go your way.

AFC CHAMPIONS LEAGUE 2015

Semi-Final
Wed. 30 September 2015
Guangzhou Evergrande (China)  vs   Gamba Osaka (Japan)

Wed. 21 October 2015 
Gamba Osaka (Japan)  vs  Guangzhou Evergrande (China)

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