Thu, 28 Oct, 2021

Saitama: Daiki Hashioka has heaped praise on teammate Tomoaki Makino after 2017 AFC Champions League winners Urawa Red Diamonds put in a spirited second-half display to defeat Thailand’s Buriram United 3-0 in Group G on Wednesday.
The hosts struggled to break down a stubborn Buriram backline in the first half, before Makino opened the scoring five minutes after the interval and Hashioka – making his first ever appearance in the competition – added two late goals to finally see off the Buriram challenge.
The result marked a winning return to the AFC Champions League for Oswaldo de Oliveira’s side, whose last appearance was the second leg of the 2017 final when they defeated Saudi Arabia’s Al Hilal 2-1 on aggregate to become two-time winners.
Thu, 28 Oct, 2021

Saitama: A second half brace from Daiki Hashioka helped Urawa Red Diamonds to a hard-fought 3-0 win over Buriram United in their opening 2019 AFC Champions League Group G encounter at Saitama Stadium 2002 on Wednesday.
In their first appearance in the Continental showpiece since they lifted the title in 2017, the home side started brightly and had a golden chance to open the scoring after just 10 minutes when Yosuke Kashiwagi’s cross found Andrew Nabbout unmarked in the box, but the Australian attacker couldn’t keep his effort down.
Thu, 28 Oct, 2021

Jeonju: Lee Dong-gook played a starring role as Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors defeated Beijing FC 3-1 in their Group G opener in the AFC Champions League on Wednesday.
The 39-year-old regained his position as the tournament’s all-time top scorer when his 37th strike to put Jeonbuk 2-1 ahead before he set up the home side’s killer third.
The visitors started confidently and created the first chance in the seventh minute when Cedric Bakambu fired wide after a through ball from Piao Cheng.
Thu, 28 Oct, 2021

Changwon: Italian striker Graziano Pelle has bemoaned Shandong Luneng’s missed chances after their entertaining 2-2 draw with Korea Republic’s Gyeongnam FC in their opening 2019 AFC Champions League Group E fixture at Changwon Football Center on Tuesday.
The former Southampton striker, making his first appearance in the competition since the 2016 quarter-finals, was the hero for his side as goals in either half earned a valuable point on the road for the Chinese Super League team.
But having taken a first-half lead, Pelle was disappointed Shandong couldn’t stay in the ascendancy and come away with all three points, especially after they spurned a number of late chances.
Thu, 28 Oct, 2021

Sydney: Sydney FC defender Michael Zullo has expressed his regret that his side weren’t able to take full advantage of their domination of Ulsan Hyundai as the teams played out a 0-0 draw in their opening 2019 AFC Champions League Group H game on Wednesday.
The home side had 17 shots to Ulsan’s 11 and controlled 56 percent of the possession, but in blustery conditions at Jubilee Stadium in Sydney’s south, the Sky Blues failed to convert any of their chances and extended their goalless run at home in the competition to four matches.
Thu, 28 Oct, 2021

Doha: Medhi Benatia drew on his FIFA World Cup experience with Morocco and admitted that it was vital Al Duhail made their dominance count with a goal against Esteghlal in Group C of the 2019 AFC Champions League on Tuesday, before they went on to record a 3-0 victory.
After a scoreless first half against the Iranian side, Benatia headed home the first goal as the hour approached to ease any opening-day nerves, before Youssef El Arabi and substitute Ali Afif both got on the scoresheet as the Qatari champions got off to a perfect start.
For Benatia, who was making his AFC Champions League debut after joining from Juventus, the game brought back memories of when he last faced Iranian opposition, back in June.
Morocco dominated against the Islamic Republic of Iran in their opening match at the FIFA World Cup Russia 2018, only to concede deep into stoppage time and suffer an agonising 1-0 defeat.
Thu, 28 Oct, 2021

Ibaraki: Go Oiwa blamed inexperience rather than fatigue for Kashima Antlers’ laboured start to the defence of their AFC Champions League title on Tuesday as the 2018 winners struggled to see off Malaysia’s Johor Darul Ta’zim.
Injures to a number of key players – including Yuma Suzuki and Leo Silva - forced Oiwa to field a number of young players for his side’s first game in the group phase of the 2019 campaign, but the eight-time J.League champions still picked up all three points in the Group E clash with a 2-1 win.
“This is the first match of the AFC Champions League and we won the three points, that’s all we can take from this game,” said Oiwa. “You never know what’s going to happen in any game in this tournament and that’s something I told our players."