Thu, 28 Oct, 2021
Hiroshima: J.League champions Sanfrecce Hiroshima picked up their first points of the 2016 AFC Champions League on Wednesday after beating Thailand’s Buriram United 3-0 thanks to a Takuma Asano brace and late effort from Kohei Shimizu.
Asano, who scored twice in the final as Japan won the AFC U23 Championship in January, struck for Sanfrecce in the 42nd and 55th minutes before Shimizu rounded off the scoring with nine minutes remaining.
The victory left Sanfrecce third in Group F after three games, although they are now just three points behind Shandong Luneng after the Chinese Super League side were beaten 4-1 at home by leaders FC Seoul from Korea Republic, who have a 100% record.
“Today it was the game we had to win in order to qualify for next round. Although we were under extra pressure, our players showed what they can do and scored three goals while keeping a clean sheet. They worked hard to earn this win. Especially when they were under extra pressures and expectations for winning at home, which is not easy, each one of them pursued their role and their responsibility within the team while showing their characteristics,” said Sanfrecce coach Hajime Moriyasu.
“With today’s win, we marked our first win in an official game to this season. I am glad we were able to bring the win to our supporters. However, we still are not in a good position to qualify for the next round on our own and we need to win away from home to close in on getting through the group stage. At the same time, I am hoping that this win can help us get going in our coming J. League game.”
Asano was a thorn in the side of the Buriram defence from the outset, and had his first opportunity after just seven minutes.
Buriram goalkeeper Siwarak Tedsungnoen did well to parry a Gakuto Notsuda effort from 20 yards, but Asano was following up sharply and fired a warning shot by sending the rebound narrowly wide of the far post.
Asano went close again in the 27th minute after receiving from Notsuda and shifting the ball out of his feet before trying his luck from just outside the penalty area, but this effort also went just wide of Siwarak’s right hand upright.
Six minutes later it was Notsuda who tried his luck after directing a firm header goalwards following a Yoshifumi Kashiwa cross from the right, but Siwarak was again equal to the effort and palmed the ball away to safety.
But the breakthrough finally came three minutes before half-time as Takumi Miyayoshi threaded an inch perfect pass for Asano to chase, and the 21-year-old showed good strength to hold off Surat Sukha before keeping his composure and slotting home.
And Asano doubled Sanfrecce’s lead 10 minutes after half-time after racing onto a flicked Notsuda through-ball and racing clear before tucking the ball beyond the exposed Siwarak.
Buriram struggled to create any clear chances to pull themselves back into the game, and the closest they came was a Theerathon Bunmathan free-kick in the 63rd minute, which was struck cleanly enough but well held by Sanfrecce goalkeeper Takuto Hayashi.
But Sanfrecce substitutes Kosei Shibasaki and Shimizu then combined to seal the win in the 81st minute, with the former laying off for the latter to curl home from just outside the area.
“We tried to do our best. We prepared tactics for this game and that worked for the first 42 minutes. After giving away the first goal, the game changed totally, and we tried to do more in offense,” said Buriram coach Alexandre Gama.
“Hiroshima deserved the win, they played better. They are an organised team and used their power of playing at home. We did try our best, but today we cannot get a good result.
“We go home now and we are waiting for the return of our players who couldn’t play today because of injury and suspension. And then we can have more quality in play and spirit of play. At home we are very strong and we want to show that. After having lost three games, we want to show our fans that we can play well and this is our motivation for next game.”
Photo: Lagardère Sports