Thu, 28 Oct, 2021
Jinan: Brazilian striker Adriano took his AFC Champions League tally to nine goals in just three games after netting twice as Korea Republic’s FC Seoul maintained their 100% record in Group F after recording an impressive 4-1 win over China’s Shandong Luneng on Wednesday.
Dejan Damjanovic and Go Yo-han also scored at Jinan Olympic Sport Centre as 2013 finalists FC Seoul added to earlier wins over Thailand’s Buriram United and Japan’s Sanfrecce Hiroshima.
Midfielder Jucilei had restored parity for Shandong just after the hour mark, but the home side were unable to avoid a first defeat in Group F having also earlier beaten Sanfrecce and Buriram.
“We were aware that Shandong is a good team with talented players including foreign ones. They are a good opponent, but our win is based on team work. I hope we can keep this status and repeat what we presented today,” said FC Seoul coach Choi Yong-soo.
“Our players have been extremely concentrated, and their attitude and spirit were perfect. We managed to control the pace of the game. It is unfortunate for Shandong that they only scored once, bit I think they haven't been in their best shape yet.
“Shandong seemed be trying to keep the score at 1-1 after they equalised. So I told my players to be patient, and grasp the counterattack opportunity and in the end we scored three more.”
Adriano, who previously played for Chinese Super League side Dalian Shide, opened the scoring after 27 minutes after sneaking into an unmarked position in the centre of the penalty area to prod home Yojiro Takahagi’s looping cross from the left.
Shandong, though, found themselves level two minutes after the hour mark as Hao Junmin's cross from the right found Jucilei drifting into the area at the back post to head low past FC Seoul goalkeeper Yoo Hyun.
But the home side were on level terms for just three minutes as Go made no mistake by firing low past Shandong goalkeeper Wang Dalei after cutting onto his left foot after being picked out by Adriano.
FC Seoul doubled their lead soon after as former Jiangsu FC and Beijing Guoan striker Damjanovic fired home from the edge of the area following good work from Sin Jin-ho.
And the visitors sealed the win with 19 minutes remaining as Damjanovic unselfishly squared the ball for Adriano to slot into the empty net with goalkeeper Wang drawn out of position.
FC Seoul came close to a fifth with 15 minutes remaining as Ju Se-jong fired over from just outside the area, before Yang Xu failed to find the target for Shandong.
“It was very difficult right from the beginning. I changed the formation after we conceded the first goal and things started to look better. The start of the second half was not bad and we managed to equalise, but we conceded three times in the following six minutes. This kind of situation is a big hit to any team. I think it happened due to the lack of experiences from our team,” said Shandong coach Mano Menezes.
“I thought our team had developed well recently, but after this match, we have to review and find out our problems. Wins over the past period has covered up these problems.
“Losing a game by a big margin is a sign of bad team work. We also have a problem of marking opponent players properly. We conceded three goals in the first round of CSL is also due to bad marking skills. It is not only the defenders problem, but the our entire defence system.
“No one expected to concede three times in six minutes. When we conceded the second one, the experienced players should have stood out to stabilise the atmosphere within the team, because given what happened, the players must be extremely upset. At that moment we should have been more calm and better organized, but we were anxious to attack without good organisation.”
Photo: Lagardère Sports