The AFC Champions League (ACL) 2015 entered its third matchday of the group stage on 17 March. Kashiwa Reysol beat Shandong Luneng FC (CHN) 2-1 with defender WAKO Naoki’s late winning goal in the added time of the second half. Meanwhile, Urawa Reds, travelling to an away match, fell to Beijing Guoan (CHN) 2-0.

After the home win, Kashiwa brought their points tally to seven with two wins and one tie, but they gave up the top spot of Group E to Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors (KOR) by goal difference as the Korean side defeated Binh Duong (VIE) 3-0. Shandong stand at third place with three points (one win and two losses). Binh Duong sit fourth after three consecutive losses.

Despite their intention to create their pace from the start, Kashiwa were attacked by Shandong early on, who got off to a good start with their momentum. Just after the kick-off, a Kashiwa defender gave away the ball to midfielder Walter Montillo, who fired a shot. Kashiwa goalkeeper SUGENO Takanori, however, made a fine save.

Then, Kashiwa caught their pace after 10 minutes as forwards OTSU Yuki and KUDO Masato threatened the opposing goal with their shots. The opening goal was posted in the 23rd minute. After Kudo’s shot from the right in the box was deflected by an opposing defender and rolled to the far post, midfielder TAKETOMI Kosuke put it into the net with his right foot. And then in the 33rd minute, Kashiwa defender Eduardo headed Wako’s free kick but hit it off the crossbar. The first half ended 1-0 without a goal added.

Shandong fought back just after the break. In the 51st minute, Montillo picked up an incomplete clearance by a Kashiwa defender and netted it to level the score. Kashiwa on the other hand had Kudo fire shots through Taketomi’s pass in the 57th and Otsu’s pass in the 60th minute. In the 66th minute, defender Kim Changsoo attempted a shot from the right, but it was denied by Shandong defence including goalkeeper Wang Dalei. As Shandong, trailing Kashiwa by three points in the standings, tried to win the ball intensely, the Chinese side shifted hard-running midfielder Wang Yongpo from the offensive midfield to the right flank in the second half and played on swift attacks.

Kashiwa, however, kept on attacking with midfielder OTA Tetsuro and forward Cristiano sent onto the pitch.

In the closing minutes of the second half, Ota cut in from the left and passed it to Kudo, who then sent it to Cristiano. In the end, Wako rushed in front of goal and headed home Cristiano’s cross to put his team ahead.

In the meanwhile, Urawa, travelling to Beijing, allowed Beijing Guoan to attack early and their defence, including goalkeeper NISHIKAWA Shunsaku, barely kept managing to hold them off. There was a moment when forward Muto Yuki launched a shot, but he was not able to make it through and the first half ended 0-0. The Chinese opponents kept their offensive momentum in the second half, too. In the 55th minute, forward Dejan Damjanovic unleashed a shot inside the box, but Nishikawa saved it well. In the 78th minute, however, midfielder Pablo Batalla netted a loose ball for an opener after Nishikawa and Damjanovic vied for the ball. And in the 84th minute, substitute forward Yu Dabao added a goal. Urawa created golden opportunities in the 73rd and 82nd minutes as forward ISHIHARA Naoki headed twice for a goal, yet they went off target.

While Urawa suffered the third straight loss with this defeat and failed to get out of fourth place in Group G, Beijing increased their points to nine. Suwon Samsung FC (KOR) and Brisbane Roar (AUS), both with three points so far, square off on 18th.

On 18th, Gamba Osaka face Buriram United (THA) at home and Kashima Antlers meet Guangzhou Evergrande in China.

Head Coaches and Players' Comments

YOSHIDA Tatsuma, Head Coach (Kashiwa Reysol)
I’m glad we won the match today. The contest was tough, just like “This is the ACL.” Basically, the goals were through the plays that we were trying to do, breakthrough and build-up. When you go on attacks, you end up allowing space to the opponents. But my players took such risks and challenges. I would like to admire their spirit. We had some moments early allowing the opponents to attack, but the players carefully observed the opposing offence and brought out their performance to cope well with the changes in opponents’ system. In the previous J.League match, defender Masushima (Tatsuya) got a little serious injury. That’s very disappointing, thinking about his recent growth and contribution to the team, but he dropped by our practice in the morning today. I’m not sure if it motivated the team, but it was good we won today’s match for the sake of him as well.

DF  WAKO Naoki (Kashiwa Reysol)
Today we played at home, so we wanted to win and it was a must-win. I’m relieved to win. About the goal,I was assuming there would be just one or two chances coming up because the remaining time was just a little. I found space in front of me and just rushed toward to it. Then, Christiano’s ball came to me and I’m happy that I was able to put it in. The Chinese team had Brazilian players and I know they have individual skills, so we tried to capitalise on our strengths. It was good we finished it with a win, but I’m not very satisfied because of a big mistake I made as an individual. I will work on improving such things and will play the remaining three matches of the group stage.

MF  OTANI Hidekazu (Kashiwa Reysol)
I’m not satisfied because we didn’t get three straight wins in the group stage, but what’s important is we did not allow the strong opponents to add up points. It’s very positive we’ve got two wins and one draw after the first half of the group stage. Next if we win with no mistake and Jeonbuk Hyundai also win, the two qualifying teams will be determined. We will go to China to make that determination come true in the fourth match. To make it happen, we all will work hard in practice every day to grow.

Cuca, Head Coach (Shandong Luneng FC)
Kashiwa had good defence and their offence also troubled us with well-flowing build-up play from passing to shooting. After giving up an opening goal, we once succeeded to equalise on one chance, but it’s disappointing we allowed a goal at the end. I believe our defence isn’t so bad, so Kashiwa’s offence deserves credit for scoring that goal. We tried to turn chances into a goal but failed to make it. We did our best. We will try to put up a good result in the three matches left.

AFC Champions League 2015
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