Thu, 28 Oct, 2021
Osaka: An injury-time header from Baba Diawara rescued a 3-3 draw for Adelaide United against Gamba Osaka on Tuesday to keep the Australian side's qualification hopes alive in Group H of the 2017 AFC Champions League.
Gamba started the brighter at Suita City Football Stadium and took a sixth-minute lead when towering striker Shun Nagasawa headed home at the near post from Yasuhito Endo’s corner, before a thunderbolt from the 2016 AFC Youth Player of the Year Ristu Doan doubled the hosts' lead just six minutes later as the J.League side looked headed for a comfortable victory.
But a Sergio Cirio goal just before half-time, after a costly slip from Kim Jung-ya, gave Adelaide hope heading into the second-half. An equaliser then came ten minutes after the restart when Jordan O’Doherty's wonder strike fired past the outstretched hand of Masaaki Higashiguchi.
After a missed penalty from Endo in the 58th minute, Gamba looked to have secured all three points when Michael Marrone turned the ball into his own net with 15 minutes remaining, before Diawara’s glancing header from Ben Garuccio’s free kick in the 91st minute earned a valuable point for the Australian side.
Adelaide will advance to the Round of 16 if they beat Jiangsu FC on Matchday Six and Jeju United - who defeated Jiangsu 2-1 in Tuesday's other Group H clash - fail to claim all three points against Gamba, who now need to defeat Jeju by at least a three-goal margin and hope Adelaide do not win against Jiangsu.