Thu, 28 Oct, 2021
Tokyo: FC Tokyo will make their second appearance in the AFC Champions League group stage after thumping Thai side Chonburi 9-0 in the final round of qualifying at Tokyo Stadium on Tuesday.
Rodrigo Vergilio’s own-goal put the club from the Japanese capital in front after just six minutes and they needed just three minutes more to double their tally through Takuma Abe before Keigo Higashi netted a third just past the half-hour mark.
Ryoichi Maeda, Takuji Yonemoto, Kota Mizunuma and substitute Hiroki Kawano added to the tally in the second half before Chonlatit Jantakam’s own goal and Kawano’s late penalty ended the scoring at nine as FC Tokyo cruised into Group E of the continental competition where they will meet 2006 winners Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors, big-spending Chinese side Jiangsu FC and Vietnamese champions Becamex Binh Duong.
Kicking off the match in temperatures of just six degrees, FC Tokyo caught their Thai opponents cold, and opened the scoring inside the first six minutes as Brazilian forward Vergilio could only turn Mizunuma’s in-swinging corner into his own net.
A shell-shocked visiting side were still yet to get out of first gear and just three minutes later Abe increased the lead after evading defender Suttinun Phukhom and firing past Thanchai Noorach in the Chonburi goal.
Mizunuma, who had assisted for Abe’s goal, then played a vital role in FC Tokyo’s third on 34 minutes as his deft chipped pass put in onrushing fullback Yuhei Tokunaga whose pull-back was met by a firm finish into the corner of the net by Higashi.
The match continued in the same vein in the second half with Higashi turning provider for Maeda 10 minutes in, before Yonemoto headed home a Yuichi Komano cross from the left to make it 5-0 a minute later.
And the goals kept coming for the home side as Mizunuma was allowed to volley past Thanchai from Tokunaga’s deep right-wing cross on 61 minutes before Kawano prodded in from close-range with 18 minutes remaining from yet another ball in into the box.
Chonlatit then diverted Naotake Hanyu’s attempted through pass past Thanchai to make it 8-0, before Kawano added his second of the night from the spot in injury time to put the icing on a hugely dominant performance by the J.League side.