Tue, 30 Nov, -0001
Jeonju: Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors came back from going two goals down in seven minutes to pick up a point with a 2-2 draw against Urawa Reds at Jeonju World Cup Stadium in Group F of the AFC Champions League on Tuesday.
Daisuke Nasu and Umesaki Tsukasa scored in the opening exchanges to give Urawa a deserved lead but second-half efforts from Eninho (Enio Oliveira Junior) and Seo Sang-min secured a draw for the 2006 champions.
It was the second time in a week Urawa squandered a winning position against the K-League side and Mihailo Petrovic’s side now face an uphill struggle to qualify for the knockout rounds of the competition.
“We conceded two early goals and I had to urgently change the strategy,” said Jeonbuk coach Fabio Lefundes. “Thankfully the players were able to respond to the changes and we were able to score two goals after half-time.
“We will first focus on the next match in the K-League and then I will prepare for the match against Muangthong in Jeonju, but I am sure we will still qualify for the next stage.”
Just as they did in the fixture at Saitama Stadium last Wednesday, Urawa made a blistering start, and by the third minute they were in front.
Yosuke Kashiwagi’s corner from the Jeonbuk left curled away from goal and Nasu raced in to launch an unstoppable header past Kwoun Sun-tae and give the 2007 champions the lead.
Four minutes later Urawa doubled their advantage when some slick interplay on the edge of the Jeonbuk penalty area sent Tomoya Ugajin through on goal. While his shot was parried clear by Kwoun, Tsukasa Umesaki steamed in unmarked to sidefoot the ball into the far corner with conviction.
Urawa’s dominance of the opening period should have yielded further reward for Petrovic’s team and their failure to add to their advantage would cause more nervous moments in the second half.
Shinzo Koroki’s right foot shot from the edge of the area was just wide of the target while Yuki Abe should have scored from close range with just three minutes left in the half, only to fire straight at Kwoun with the goal at his mercy.
With seconds remaining in the half, Jeonbuk were inches away from halving the deficit when Jung In-hwan’s glancing header of Eninho’s corner flew across the face of the Urawa goal only to come back off the post.
Six minutes after the restart, Jeonbuk managed to pull one back and it was no surprise that it was Eninho who converted, the Brazilian catching out Nobuhiro Kato for the second time in a week with an effort from outside the area that left the Japanese goalkeeper flat footed and the ball in the back of the net.
Urawa continued to create chances without adding to their lead with both Koroki and Abe missing with the goal at their mercy while substitute Marcio Richardes (Marcio Richardes de Andrade) saw his effort clawed away by Kwoun as time ran down.
Jeonbuk grew increasingly desperate but were ultimately rewarded when Lee Dong-gook rolled the ball back to Seo in a crowded penalty area and his low right foot shot flew into the far right corner of Kato’s goal to salvage a point for Jeonbuk and keep them two points ahead of Urawa with two games to play in the group stages.
“It is regrettable that we conceded a second goal in added time, but during the game I was satisfied with the players,” said Petrovic. “We should have easily got three points from this game but we have just one.
“We are not disappointed as we are still in contention in the group stage and if weplay well in the remaining matches and I sure that we can advance to the knockout stage.”
Photo: WSG