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DOHA: Brazilian midfielder Adailton scored a brilliant solo goal in the first half as FC Tokyo edged past Perth Glory 1-0 to seal the second round-of-16 spot from Group F in the Asian Champions League (ACL) on Thursday.
South Korean giants Ulsan Hyundai had already made the cut as guaranteed group winners, leaving FC Tokyo and Shanghai Shenhua scrapping for second place with both teams on seven points from five matches.
But Shanghai Shenhua fell to a crushing 4-1 defeat by Ulsan on Thursday to exit the tournament, while FC Tokyo’s narrow win over Perth Glory helped them maintain their record of qualifying for the knockout phase every year since their continental debut in 2012.
Melbourne Victory meanwhile reached the ACL knockout stage for the second time in their history ater beating FC Seoul 2-1 in the decisive Matchday Six fixture of Group E of the 2020 AFC Champions League on Thursday.
With the top spot in the group secured by Beijing FC, the two sides went into the game with the knowledge that their future in the competition hung on achieving a result on the night, for Melbourne Victory that meant the three points only, while a draw would be enough for FC Seoul.
Melbourne Victory came racing out of the blocks and within five minutes they had opened the scoring through Marco Rojas. The New Zealand international was sent through on goal by
Callum Mcmanaman and kept his composure to finish past goalkeeper Yang Han-been for the Australian side’s opener.
FC Seoul responded with a series of quick atacks, coming close to finding the equaliser on two occasions inside the opening quarter of an hour, first Hwan Hyun-soo heading just wide then minutes later Yun Young-sun seeing his header caught by goalkeeper Max Crocombe.
At the halfway point of the first half, Melbourne Victory were given a golden opportunity to double their advantage ater Mcmanaman was brought down inside the box. Jake Brimmer stepped up and converted from the spot to make it 2-0.
Brimmer came close to doubling his own tally in the 57th minute as he took Rojas’ laid off pass on the edge of the box first-time, but his lobbed atempt passed narrowly wide of the post.
Former Arsenal forward Park Chu-young tried to drive FC Seoul forward in the second half and curled an effort from a free-kick 30 yards out past the wall, but Crocombe was alert and caught the ball.
Soo’s repeated atempts from set-pieces finally bore fruit as the FC Seoul defender beat the Australian goalkeeper to Han Seung-gyu’s cross, powering in a header to half the deficit in the 64th minute.
The result means Melbourne Victory advance to the knock-out stages, seting up a round of 16 encounter with Group F winners Ulsan Hyundai, while Beijing FC had earlier learned they would be facing FC Tokyo next.
Beijing FC completed their AFC Champions League group stage campaign with an unbeaten record, coming from behind to share the spoils in a 1-1 draw against Chiangrai United on Thursday.