Kashima progressed to the Round of 16 last year before being eliminated on away goals by China’s Guangzhou Evergrande as they failed, yet again, to reach the last eight of the continental competition.

The eight-time J.League champions have only once reached the quarter-finals, back in 2008, but defender Shoji believes Kashima can improve on their previous showings and follow in the footsteps of their domestic rivals and AFC Champions League holders Urawa Red Diamonds.

The Chinese Super League side took the lead in the 23rd minute when Elkeson brought down Yu Hai’s left-wing cross and fired across Jung Sung-ryong with the Kawasaki keeper’s low diving parry not enough to prevent the ball going into right-hand corner.

Just after the half-hour, Kengo Nakamura could have drawn the scores level but Yan Junling’s superb flying save kept out the veteran’s firm header as the visitors maintained their lead at the interval.

In the second half, Kawasaki went close to drawing level on 71 minutes through Akihiro Ienaga who blazed over when put through by Yoshito Okubo, while Brazilian star Hulk was inches wide just minutes later from a free-kick at the other end.

The J.League side continued in search of an equaliser as the match drew to a close but were unable to find the breakthrough, giving Vitor Pereira’s men all three points to kick off their continental campaign.

 

Kim Do-hoon’s men will rue a missed opportunity after taking the lead three times, but there were plenty of positives for the Korean side to take away from their trip to Melbourne.

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Awesome Orsic

Mislav Orsic’s must have a fondness for playing against Australian teams, with his brace on Tuesday following another brace against Brisbane Roar last year.

Deployed as a left-winger in a 4-1-4-1 formation, Orsic stuck tight to the left touch line, as displayed by his heat map below, and gave a workout to both Kosta Barbarouses and Jason Geria on Melbourne Victory’s right-hand side.

The brace also extended the striker’s lead as the tournament’s all-time top scorer, taking him onto 34 goals since its revamp in 2002-03.

The match came to life when Kashiwa opened the scoring after 10 minutes. A ball over the top from Hidekazu Otani put Ramon Lopes clear on the left. Hong Jeong-nam rushed out of the penalty area but Lopes got to the ball first and lifted it over the Jeonbuk keeper and into the far corner.

The hosts got back into the game, but Kashiwa stunned them by doubling their lead in the 27th minute. Again, the danger came down the left as Cristiano broke down the wing. He found Lopes, who turned inside before his low shot was parried by Hong Jeong-nam and into the path of Ataru Esaka, who tapped into an empty net.

Jeonbuk went on the attack early in the second half and got their reward with a goal in the 55th minute as Lee Dong-gook jumped to head in from Lee Jae-sung’s corner.

And the two-time winners levelled things up with 15 minutes remaining. After Tiago Alves’ free--kick was blocked, Kim Shin-wook’s shot was saved and the ball fell to Kim Jin-su who volleyed home with an acrobatic effort from six yards.

The comeback was complete in the 84th minute, with Lee Dong-gook adding his second of the night, curling a super strike into the top corner of the net.