Kawasaki Frontale began their AFC Champions League Elite campaign with a 1-0 victory over Ulsan HD on Wednesday, thanks to Marcinho’s second-half goal at the Ulsan Munsu World Cup Stadium.
The Brazilian forward netted the decisive goal in the 54th minute, securing all three points for Toru Oniki’s team. This win puts the four-time Japanese champions alongside Gwangju FC from the K League 1 and Chinese Super League teams Shanghai Shenhua and Shandong Taishan, all starting the tournament on maximum points.
Kawasaki, who have never advanced beyond the quarter-finals in 10 previous AFC Champions League appearances, edged out a closely contested match played on a challenging surface. Ulsan’s Kim Min-jun tested Kawasaki goalkeeper Jung Sung-ryung early on with a powerful shot in the sixth minute, followed by a header over the bar after Matheus Sales delivered a cross from the left.
Kawasaki responded with Yu Kobayashi forcing Ulsan keeper Jo Hyeon-woo into a save from 30 yards out. From the resulting corner, Marcinho’s glancing header went across the face of the goal, keeping the pressure on Ulsan. Jo made another key save after 30 minutes, diving to stop a long-range shot from Yasuto Wakizaka, who had struck the ball perfectly from 25 yards.
Kawasaki continued to press, with Kota Takai’s header deflected wide and Sota Miura’s long-range effort flying over the bar. After the restart, the Japanese side intensified their attack, and in the 54th minute, Marcinho capitalized on Miura’s decoy run to find space and curl a right-footed strike from outside the box into the net, leaving Jo with no chance.
Ulsan tried to fight back, with Joo Min-kyu denied by a last-ditch challenge from Asahi Sasaki, and Gustav Ludwigson coming close to equalizing. Ataru Esaka also sent a dangerous ball across goal, but it was just out of reach for Yago Cariello. In stoppage time, Jung Sung-ryung made a crucial save, pushing away Yago’s powerful shot to preserve Kawasaki’s lead and secure the win.