Adelaide United took a giant stride toward their first AFC Champions League final on Wednesday, but there was stalemate in Japan where Gamba Osaka and Urawa Reds played out a 1-1 draw.
The Australians scored three second-half goals to crush Uzbekistan’s Kuruvchi 3-0 in their semi-final first leg, ensuring a handy buffer when they travel to Tashkent for the return tie on Oct. 22.
They stifled their big-spending opponents with Brazil’s former World Player of the Year Rivaldo largely anonymous, giving Kuruvchi’s new coach Zico plenty to ponder.
PHOTO: AFP
In Osaka, Gamba had to wait until nine minutes before the whistle for the equalizer with Japanese international Yasuhito Endo converting a penalty after Hajime Hosogai gave defending champions Urawa the lead on 22 minutes.
In front of a sell-out crowd, Adelaide turned the match in the 57th minute with a goal made in Brazil when Cassio’s cross from the left was chested down by Diego who beat Kuruvchi keeper Pavel Bugalo.
The goal fired up the home team and midfielder Fabian Barbiero scored in the 76th minute after more superb lead-up work from Diego and Cassio.
Diego cheekily back-heeled to give compatriot Cassio the space and time to lob in another cross for Travis Dodd to set up Barbiero’s header past Bugalo.
Adelaide got a crucial third goal when Cassio was brought down by Timur Kapadze in the 89th minute for a penalty which Adelaide’s third Brazilian import, Cristano, converted.
“We struggled in the first half and looked a bit tired,” Adelaide coach Aurelio Vidmar said.
“But at half-time I told them to play more direct and put as many balls in the box as possible and the goals came out of that.
“After Diego’s opening goal we settled down a lot,” he said.
While the odds of a final appearance are now stacked in Adelaide’s favour, Gamba Osaka and Urawa still have everything to play for.
Gamba had the first sight of goal with six minutes gone when Urawa conceded a soft free-kick. After the ball was floated in it fell to Ryuji Bando in the six-yard box but the striker scooped the ball wide.
The home team had another chance 12 minutes later when Takahiro Futagawa was sent clear down the right and raced into the box but tried to beat Ryota Tsuzuki at his near post and the Reds keeper dropped down smartly.
The miss would prove costly as Urawa took the lead soon after. Takahito Soma cleverly worked himself space down the left and, although his cross-cum-shot was blocked, the ball fell to Hosogai on the edge of the box and he drove a low shot through a crowd of players into the back of the net. Gamba piled on the pressure after the interval and equalized when Soma was adjudged to have brought down Bando in the box.
Endo made no mistake from the spot, although Urawa have the handy away goal for the return leg.
“We began to show our aggressive nature in the second half but we were still dogged by the lack of finishing power,” Gamba coach Akira Nishino said.
“But I commend the players for pressing hard as they were rewarded with the penalty,” he said.
Taiwan’s Chou Tien-chen yesterday exited at the BWF World Tour Finals in China, losing in the semi-finals to China’s world No. 1 Shi Yuqi. Shi, who was named the BWF Men’s Singles Player of the Year, had a 9-4 record against Chou going into the match. He extended that record to 9-5 with a 21-14, 21-18 victory. Chou advanced to the men’s singles semi-finals on Friday by upsetting top-seeded Anders Antonsen of Denmark in a must-win match at the Hangzhou Olympic Sports Center Gymnasium. The 16-21, 21-18, 21-15 victory saw Chou secure his second semi-finals appearance at the tournament, despite his relatively older
‘REMARKABLE’: Gaelic football is a traditional Irish sport that blends the skills of soccer and rugby, and hurling is an ancient sport played with a wooden stick and ‘sliotar’ The Taiwan Celts Gaelic Football Club marked a milestone achievement at the Asian Gaelic Games in Bangkok on Nov. 23 and 24, with two sides advancing to the knockout stages and competing at hurling for the first time. The event brought together 68 teams from 16 clubs across Asia, with more than 800 players in men’s and women’s tournaments. Gaelic football is a traditional Irish team sport that blends the skills of soccer, rugby union and basketball. Hurling is an ancient Irish sport played with a wooden stick, called a hurley, and a small ball, or sliotar. The Taiwan Celts’ women’s team reached
LIVERPOOL WIN: The 50th Champions League goal by Mohamed Salah helped the leaders of the Premier League to keep their perfect record intact Real Madrid’s big stars on Tuesday turned on the style to revive the Spanish giant’s faltering UEFA Champions League title defense. Galacticos Kylian Mbappe, Vinicius Junior and Jude Bellingham all scored in a thrilling 3-2 win against Serie A leaders Atalanta BC. However, Madrid still had to ride their luck as Mateo Retegui fired over from in front of goal in stoppage-time when handed a golden chance to level the game. It was only Madrid’s third win in the competition’s revamped league phase and leaves the 15-time champions in the unseeded playoff positions in 18th place. “It’s a very important win. Not everyone wins
Indian teenager Gukesh Dommaraju became the youngest chess world champion on Thursday after beating the defending champion Ding Liren of China in the final match of their series in Singapore. Dommaraju, 18, secured 7.5 points against 6.5 of his Chinese rival in the contest, surpassing the achievement of Russia’s Garry Kasparov, who won the title at the age of 22. The Indian teen prodigy has long been considered a rising star in the chess world after he became a chess grandmaster at 12. He had entered the match as the youngest-ever challenger to the world crown after winning the Candidates tournament earlier
RSS