Guangzhou through to AFC finals
Print Edition
CHINESE champion Guangzhou Evergrande reached the AFC Champions League finals for the second time in three seasons after it played out a 0-0 draw against the home side at Gamba Osaka yesterday.
The win handed the Chinese side a 2-1 aggregate triumph over the Japanese treble winner, though Evergrande could have extended its advantage from the first leg as Brazilian forward Elkeson squandered a pair of good openings on either side of half-time at the Expo ‘70 Stadium.
Evergrande’s well-organized defence was, however, rarely troubled by the home side as it held on to its narrow lead to set up a meeting in the final against Al Ahli of the United Arab Emirates.
“This match was really hard because both teams are high quality and very good. We had many opportunities, at least four good chances to score, but we could not score. But in the end we drew so we could reach our goal to get to the final,” said Guangzhou’s Brazilian coach Luiz Felipe Scolari.
“We had at least four opportunities to score compared to Gamba who are a very strong team who only had two opportunities to score, so in the end we had more opportunities to score and if we had scored, the match would have been different.”
Al Ahli, which reached the final on Tuesday after a dramatic 4-3 aggregate victory over Al Hilal of Saudi Arabia 4-3, will host the first leg in Dubai on November 7 with the return game in southern China on November 21.
Evergrande, winner in 2013 when it beat South Korean side FC Seoul on away goals in the final, led the semifinal 2-1 after a second-half header by captain Zheng Zhi from the first leg in Guangzhou three weeks ago.
Elkeson tried to build on the advantage, but his right-footed effort in the 43rd minute forced a smart save from goalkeeper Masaaki Higashiguchi.
The Brazilian had another great opportunity to break the deadlock minutes into the second half when he was released in the left by Ricardo Goulart’s excellent through ball but scooped his effort just over the crossbar.
Gamba had avoided elimination with three comeback wins during its run to the semifinals but it struggled to find a way past the Evergrande defence during the opening hour. It went close to a breakthrough in the 57th minute when Shu Kurata’s cut-back from the right was punched away by goalkeeper Zeng Cheng before it could reach a lurking Patric.
Gamba displayed greater urgency after Japan striker Takashi Usami replaced Hiroyki Abe on the hour.
Kurata saw his effort on a quick counter blocked by a defender while Usami fired a low shot narrowly wide of the right post with six minutes left.
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