Jeonbuk to stay in hunt, Al Rayyan triumph
HO CHI MINH: Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors fought back from a goal down to defeat Sydney FC 3-2 on Thursday, seting up an enticing winner-takesall clash with Yokohama F Marinos in Group H of the AFC Champions League.
Han Kyo-won, Stanislav Iljutcenko and Gustavo all scored in a dominant show in the second 45 minutes to give Jeonbuk the three points ater Adam Le Fondre had put Steve Corica’s side ahead in the 40th minute. Patrick Wood hit an injury time consolation for Sydney FC.
The win ensures Jeonbuk remain only a point behind F Marinos ahead of the teams’ showdown at the Thong Nhat Stadium on Sunday, when a place in the Round of 16 will be at stake.
The second half fireworks stood in stark contrast to an opening half that failed to come to life until the final five minutes, when Le Fondre gave Sydney FC the lead.
Jeonbuk’s defence only cleared a corner as far as Rhyan Grant and the Australia international swung his cross into the box, where Le Fondre steered a header to the right of Lee Bum-soo’s out-stretched hands.
But while the opening 45 minutes was lacklustre, there were no such issues in the second half as Jeonbuk chased the game.
Sydney’s Luciano Narsingh threatened again three minutes ater the interval while seconds later Mo Barrow forced Andrew Redmayne into action at the other end following a rapid counter-atack by the K League club.
It was another quick-fire break that provided the equaliser for Kim Sang-sik’s side, when Kim Moon-hwan’s ball forward from deep inside the Jeonbuk half released Han Kyo-won and he held off Liam Mcging’s atempted tackle before sloting home.
The game continued to swing end to end, with Kim Bo-kyung hiting his own crossbar as he deflected Narsingh’s 55th minute centre onto the woodwork and, four minutes later, the Dutchman should have done beter than find Lee Bum-soo’s hands when through on goal.
Sydney were to pay for that miss with a quarter of the game remaining when Iljutcenko scored from close range ater Kim Jin-su’s cross from the let was headed into his path by Han Kyo-won.
Jeonbuk were denied a third by Redmayne’s right post when Kim Jin-su’s header ratled the woodwork, but the Korea Republic international did eventually unlock the Sydney defence again when his cut-back found Gustavo
Earlier, Nicolas Cordova praised Al Rayyan’s tenacity following their 2-0 win over defending champions Al Hilal SFC in Group A.
Yohan Boli’s effort at the stroke of half-time ater an own goal by Al Hilal’s Jang Hyun-soo gave the Qatar Stars League side a deserved victory over Al Hilal.
Al Rayyan, who have already qualified for the Round of 16, finished with 13 points behind Al Hilal on goal difference, advancing as one of the three best second-placed teams.
Victory over Al Hilal at the Prince Faisal Bin Fahd Stadium will go down as one of the best wins the Qatari club has ever achieved against the Saudi Arabia side.
“We were not at all expecting an easy match against Al Hilal,” said Cordova.