“It was a home game so we needed to secure three points. In the first half we had a good tempo and kept good positions, we were lucky to score one and lead at the break,” said Yoshida. 

“In the second half, we were able to score a second goal but after that, Central Coast dominated and that led to us conceding twice.”

The tactician said he was proud that his players didn’t lose focus after the Mariners drew level.

“Even though at that point the momentum was with Central Coast, we kept our belief that we could win and ultimately we found the third goal. It was a difficult game because we only had two days’ rest after the Emperor’s Cup final but everyone was so focused, I can only say I’m so proud of the team.

“When we looked at the competition in the beginning, it was always in our thinking that we would need three, four  wins to go through. Now we’re close but we have an important game in Korea (Republic against FC Pohang Steelers) next.”

Mariners head coach Mark Jackson felt his side were worthy of at least a point after fighting back to draw level.

“Really disappointed that we couldn’t hold out for at least a point. We had a game plan coming here. We knew that we were up against very strong opponents who are in good form with very good players and with very good structure in how they play,” said Jackson.

“So we knew we had to be disciplined in our approach. I’m really proud that the team was able to carry out the majority of what we planned. We knew Vissel were dangerous from set-plays so it was really disappointing to still concede to what we are aware of.

“But we showed courage and fight to come back into the game but in the end, disappointing to concede a third to lose the game.”

With just a point to their name, Mariners will need a miracle to advance to the knockout stage with a home tie against Japan’s Yokohama F. Mariners up next for them.