Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors became the latest team to qualify into this year’s AFC Champions League round 0f 16 after comfortably seeing off Singha Chiangrai United 3-1 at the Lokomotiv Stadium on Wednesday. The result not only confirmed Jeonbuk’s progression into the knockout rounds as Group H winners but also eliminated 3rd placed Chiangrai from the ACL, following 2nd placed Gamba Osaka’s 8-1 destruction of last-placed Tampines Rovers.
Gamba Osaka (Japan) 8-1 Tampines Rovers (Singapore)
Knowing that a win would keep their chances of qualifying into the knockouts as one of the three best runners-up alive, Gamba went straight into the offensive after the referee blew for kick-off at the Bunyodkor Stadium. Despite their dominance over their Singaporean opponents, Tampines’ tenacity made it difficult for Gamba to break the Stags down and it took the men in blue-and-black 21 minutes to open the scoring.
Kazunari Ichimi managed to receive a cross from his teammate, before teeing up Shu Kurata with a header. Gamba captain Kurata then fired off devastating half-volley that left Tampines goalkeeper Syazwan Buhari completely beaten to give his team the advantage.
Gamba then made it 2-0 only three minutes later, with Shuhei Kawasaki collecting a Yuki Yamamoto ball from some distance before the young striker waltzed his way into the Tampines defense. Syazwan was once again left beaten after Shuhei easily slotted the ball between his legs and into the goal.
Being two goals down did not deter Tampines whatsoever and in the 27th minute, history was made. Daniel Bennett, who had earlier saw his volley being denied, made no mistake with his header from the resulting corner, with the ball looping over Kei Ishikawa in the Gamba goal and into the back of the net.
Not only that Daniel had scored Tampines’ first ever ACL goal in their history, at the ripe old age of 43, the defender also became the oldest player ever to score a goal in the competition.
Unfortunately for Tampines, the comeback was off almost immediately after Ichimi had tapped a Shuhei ball into Syazwan’s net to make it 3-1 Gamba, leaving the Singaporeans with another mountain to climb.
It was all Gamba from there and the men from Suita could’ve gone 4-1 up before half-time after Amirul Haikal had fouled Takashi Usami inside the box. Former Bundesliga player Usami took it upon himself to execute the ensuing penalty, however Syazwan pulled off a heroic save to deny the midfielder, before preventing Yosuke Ideguchi from scoring on the rebound.
Eight minutes into the second half and Gamba finally made it 4-1, with Shuhei expertly pouncing on a rebound after Syazwan had denied Ichimi only seconds earlier. The youngster easily converts the ball into the back of the net to bag himself a brace, ensuring that Tampines’ mountain would grow even more steeper.
Substitute Wellington Silva then almost made it 5-1 in the 62nd minute after he was tasked in taking a penalty that Gamba had won moments earlier, with Shuhei being fouled within the box by Irwan Shah. However, once again Syazwan came to Tampines’ rescue as he denied the Brazilian from the spot, diving expertly to the right direction to tip Wellington’s penalty behind for a corner.
Despite this setback it was Wellington who had the last laugh after he had managed to get the better of Syazwan in the 75th minute, capping off an excellent maneuver from Keisuke Kurokawa to extend his team’s advantage.
Another Brazilian in Patric then made it 6-1 in the 78th minute, working together nicely with Leandro Pereira to lure Syazwan out of his post before former Sanfrecce Hiroshima man Leandro passed the ball unselfishly to Patric, who tapped the ball into the empty net.
Shuhei then completed his hat-trick in the 80th minute, receiving a well-timed pass from Wellington outside the box before lashing home a venomous shot that went well beyond Syazwan’s reach. With the scoreline now reading 7-1, Tampines were put out of their misery seven minutes later, with Kurata managing to find Patric with a defense-splitting through pass before the Brazilian finished things off from close range to complete the 8-1 mauling.
Singha Chiangrai United (Thailand) 1-3 Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors (South Korea)
With news of Gamba’s destruction of Tampines filtering in from the Bunyodkor Stadium across Tashkent to the Lokomotiv Stadium, Chiangrai knew that they must win their own match if they want to preserve their hopes of getting out of Group H alive. However the Beetles are embarking on what’s best described as Mission Impossible, with Jeonbuk having won four out of their five games so far, drawing the odd game out. A win over the 2-time ACL champions seemed to be a tall order for Chiangrai.
And predictably it was the favorites from South Korea who took the lead in the 9th minute, with Modou Barrow powering in a side-footed effort into Apirak Worawong’s goal to give Jeonbuk the early advantage.
Chiangrai were holding their own against the K-League 1 titans, dominating possession and creating a steady stream of chances, however Jeonbuk managed to expertly punish the Beetles for their profligacy as they went 2-0 up after 20 minutes.
Hong Jeong-ho managed to execute a powerful free-kick that was deflected towards Apirak by the crossbar, with the ball striking the 25-year old goalie on its way into the net.
A superb Bill was constantly left frustrated by an excellent Lee Bum-yong in the Jeonbuk goal, before the Green Warriors made the Brazilian and his Chiangrai teammates pay for their inability to break them down with their third goal of the night in the 35th minute, with a Park Jin-seong volley pretty much settling the contest.
Chiangrai refused to throw the towel just yet, however, and the Beetles started the second half the the same tenacity as they had in the first half. The Thais’ persistence was paid off in the 68th minute after Somkid Chamnarmsilp was fouled in the box. Bill dispatched the ensuing penalty with no mistakes whatsoever, finally beating Bum-yong to reduce the deficit for Chiangrai.
However, try as the Beetles might, Jeonbuk’s sizeable advantage was too much for them and despite their brave showing, Chiangrai had to bury their knockout dreams after Jeonbuk successfully held on for the win.
Chiangrai will try to sign off their ACL campaign with a win over Tampines in their final group stage match on July 10th, while Gamba are hoping to become one of the East Asian section’s three best runners-up with a win over leaders Jeonbuk on the same day.