Singha Chiangrai United had Sivakorn Tiatrakul to thank as they squeaked past a resilient Tampines Rovers 1-0 in their AFC Champions League meeting on Monday at the Bunyodkor Stadium in Tashkent. Sivakorn scored an 87th minute winner to keep Chiangrai well and alive in their hunt for a ticket to the knockout stages, with Group H favorites Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors and Gamba Osaka playing out an exciting 2-2 draw in the late match.
Singha Chiangrai United (Thailand) 1-0 Tampines Rovers (Singapore)
Chiangrai were the favorites of the two in this clash between Southeast Asian teams, however it was Tampines who flew out of the blocks in the opening minutes, with the Stags registering three shots in the first six minutes before Yasir Hanapi rattled the woodwork with his effort.
The Beetles may have been second best throughout the opening stages of the match, but they slowly grew themselves into the game. Brazilian striker Bill lead the offensive for the Northern Thailand giants, while Akarawin Sawasdee and Felipe Amorim also gave Syazwan Buhari in the Tampines goal something to sweat about.
In the end, neither team could get the upper-hand over the other and the first half ends as a goalless stalemate.
The introduction of Ekanit Panya into the game during half-time provided Chiangrai with an extra dimension in their attack, with Sivakorn’s introduction replacing Akarawin in the 52nd minute only serving to boost the Beetles even more.
Ekanit rattled the Tampines woodwork in the 58th minute with his blistering shot, before the Eastern Singaporeans retaliated with Irfan Najeeb shooting his close-ranged effort against the crossbar in the 65th minute.
The match was momentarily halted in the 69th minute after the Bunyodkor Stadium experienced a power outage but once the lights were turned back on hostilities resumed with a frantic end-to-end finish from both sides.
In the end it was Chiangrai who found the breakthrough with only three minutes to go on the clock, with a low cross from substitute Somkid Charmnarmsilp being poked into Syazwan’s goal by Sivakorn, giving the Beetles a vital lead that they would never relinquish until the end of the game.
Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors (South Korea) 2-2 Gamba Osaka (Japan)
With Chiangrai’s win drawing them level with pacesetters Jeonbuk and Gamba, the two East Asian titans duke it out at the Lokomotiv Stadium to see who will take charge of Group H outright.
2-time ACL champions Jeonbuk started the match in red-hot fashion, taking the lead after just two minutes through Stanislav Iljutcenko. The Russian striker capped off an excellent move initiated from the other side of the pitch, where Jeonbuk goalkeeper Lee Bum-young played it long towards Lee Seung-gi who in turn passed it to Han Kyo-won, who provided Stanislav with the decisive pass for his goal.
Takahiro Kunimoto then made it 2-0 Jeonbuk in the 16th minute, with the former Gyeongnam FC player firing a screamer from distance that took a deflection on its way into Masaaki Higashiguchi’s goal.
Being two goals down did not deter Gamba one bit and they continued to push forward in hopes of chasing the game somehow. The men from their Suita got their break in the 26th minute, when Hiroki Fujiharu delivered a pin-point cross from the left flank towards Patric, who heads it beyond Bum-young’s reach and into the goal.
With the deficit now reduced, Gamba intensified their pressure in search of an equalizer and they got just that only minutes after Patric’s goal. The Brazilian completed his brace in the 31st minute, capping off a brilliant attacking move from Gamba. Takashi Usami pumped the ball long from the midfield towards Shinya Yajima, who proceeds to tap the ball towards an incoming Patric who finished things off from point-blank range.
With the score tied at 2-2, the two teams proceed to trade blow after blow as they search for a winning goal. Jeonbuk came close to scoring a number of times while Gamba managed to take command of possession, shifting play repeatedly from the midfield to the final third. However, both teams were unable to take advantage of any clear-cut chances that came towards them and they were forced to settle for a point.
Leaders Gamba travel to the Bunyodkor to take on 3rd placed Chiangrai on July 1st, while Jeonbuk remain in the Lokomotiv as Tampines pay them a visit on the same day.