Tue, 30 Nov, -0001
Seoul: FC Seoul survived the late dismissal of goalkeeper Yu Sang-hun to edge out Japan’s Vegalta Sendai 2-1 in the AFC Champions League on Tuesday as the Korean champions maintained their unbeaten record in Group E.
First-half goals from former Urawa Reds striker Sergio Escudero (pictured) and Kim Jin-kyu had handed FC Seoul a deserved advantage at Seoul World Cup Stadium.
Wilson’s penalty with three minutes remaining after the Brazilian had been upended by Yu - which led midfielder Choi Hyun-tae taking over between the posts – did set up a nervous finish for the home side, but FC Seoul survived to record a second win of the campaign.
“It was an important victory. All our players showed their fighting spirit,” said FC Seoul coach Choi Yong-soo.
“We did not lose focus even at the end and we were able to achieve the victory.”
After beginning the campaign with an emphatic 5-1 win over China’s Jiangsu Sainty before sharing a goalless draw with Thailand’s Buriram Untied three weeks ago, FC Seoul signalled their intentions inside the first two minutes against Sendai as Dejan Damjanovic directed Mauricio Molina’s free-kick onto the face of the crossbar.
But FC Seoul did not take long to open the scoring as Escudero exchanged passes with Molina on the edge of the penalty area before dispatching the clever flick from the Colombian into the bottom corner with an expertly executed first time volley.
And FC Seoul were handed a second midway through the first half as Sendai goalkeeper Takuto allowed Kim’s low drilled 22nd minute free-kick from the edge of the area to slip through his hands and between his legs before agonisingly rolling across the line.
FC Seoul’s were able to comfortably defend their lead for the majority of the second half until the 83rd dismissal of goalkeeper Yu handed Sendai a lifeline with substitute midfielder Choi Hyun-tae taking the gloves with coach Choi Yong-soo unable to make any further changes.
After being upended by Yu just inside the penalty area, Wilson (Wilson Rodrigues Fonseca) eventually squeezed the resulting spot kick past Choi Hyun-tae to set-up a tense finale, but Sendai were unable to find a dramatic late equaliser.
“It was an important game in the group stage. We planned to play defensively at the start of the game and then counterattack, however, FC Seoul played well and scored twice," said Vegalta manager Makoto Teguramori.
“FC Seoul are a very powerful team, but if we produce the same effort next week at home we will achieve a better result.”
***Photo: WSG