{"id":28193,"date":"2023-12-13T18:20:48","date_gmt":"2023-12-13T09:20:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/football-tribe.com\/asia\/?p=28193"},"modified":"2023-12-13T18:20:48","modified_gmt":"2023-12-13T09:20:48","slug":"ventforet-stave-off-buriram-comeback-to-continue-fairytale-run","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/football-tribe.com\/asia\/2023\/12\/13\/ventforet-stave-off-buriram-comeback-to-continue-fairytale-run\/","title":{"rendered":"Ventforet Stave Off Buriram Comeback to Continue Fairytale Run"},"content":{"rendered":"

Ventforet Kofu made history as the first second division side to advance into the AFC Champions League knockouts as the 2022 Emperor’s Cup champions survived a Buriram United comeback to edge the Thai champions out 3-2 at the Chang Arena on Tuesday.<\/strong><\/p>\n

While not the first second division side to appear in the ACL knockouts – Saudi Arabia’s Al-Faisaly being the first following their relegation from the top-flight in the lengthy interval between the group stages and the knockouts of the 2022 ACL – Ventforet made history as the first second division side outright to qualify out of their group and into the round of 16, as winners of their group no less.<\/p>\n

And they did so with a blistering performance in Buriram, blowing apart the home side in a thorough 3-0 dismantlement within the first half before staving off the Thunder Castles’ valiant resistance in the second.<\/p>\n

Motoki Hasegawa provided the visitors with the lead after 24 minutes, seizing the opportunity by dispossessing a defender and slotting the ball into the net from the left side of the penalty area.<\/p>\n

Journeyman veteran striker Peter Utaka netted two goals before half-time, capitalizing on fortunate bounces of the ball that eluded the Buriram defenders’ control.<\/p>\n

In the 38th minute, Utaka directed a volley into a defender’s chest, but he quickly reacted to the rebound, beating his opponents to the ball and scoring.<\/p>\n

Just two minutes before half-time, he found the back of the net again, this time off a corner kick. A bouncing ball eluded the defenders and reached him at the far post, where he calmly poked it in.<\/p>\n

Buriram narrowed the gap to just one goal in the early stages of the second half, courtesy of goals from Arthit Boodjinda and Goran Causic.<\/p>\n

Arthit displayed a remarkable individual performance, carrying the ball through the last third of the pitch and finding the back of the net three minutes into the second half, bringing the score to 3-1. Shortly thereafter, Causic converted a penalty awarded for a handball committed by defender Shion Inoue in the penalty area.<\/p>\n

But it was all too late for Buriram, as the defeat, combined with Zhejiang FC’s 1-1 draw with Melbourne City, ensured that the Thai champions would finish bottom of their group – an anticlimactic ending for the Thunder Castles as they had started off their campaign with a comprehensive 4-1 win over Zhejiang<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Overall it has been a disappointing ACL for Southeast Asian sides, with BG Pathum United, Johor Darul Ta’zim, Kaya FC-Iloilo, Lion City Sailors and Hanoi FC having been eliminated earlier.<\/p>\n

True Bangkok United are Southeast Asia’s sole representative in this season’s ACL knockouts, winning a relatively manageable group that has Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors, Kitchee SC, and LCS.<\/p>\n

As for Ventforet, the plucky J.League 2 side are set to rub shoulders with Asia’s elite in the round of 16 which will be played on February of next year.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Ventforet Kofu made history as the first second division side to advance into the AFC Champions League knockouts as the 2022 Emperor’s Cup champions survived a Buriram United comeback to edge the Thai champions out 3-2 at the Chang Arena on Tuesday. While not the first second division side to appear in the ACL knockouts – Saudi Arabia’s Al-Faisaly being the first following their relegation from the top-flight in the lengthy interval between the group stages and the knockouts of the 2022 ACL – Ventforet made history as the first second division side outright to qualify out of their group and into the round of 16, as winners of their … Continue reading “Ventforet Stave Off Buriram Comeback to Continue Fairytale Run”<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":102,"featured_media":27322,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[47,25],"tags":[130,926,220,2428,57,95,315,68,516],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/football-tribe.com\/asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28193"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/football-tribe.com\/asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/football-tribe.com\/asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/football-tribe.com\/asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/102"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/football-tribe.com\/asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=28193"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/football-tribe.com\/asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28193\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":28194,"href":"https:\/\/football-tribe.com\/asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28193\/revisions\/28194"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/football-tribe.com\/asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/27322"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/football-tribe.com\/asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=28193"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/football-tribe.com\/asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=28193"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/football-tribe.com\/asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=28193"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}