Defending champions Gamba Osaka and fellow J-League powerhouse Kawasaki Frontale blasted 10 goals between them as they romped towards the last 16 of the AFC Champions League yesterday.
Gamba are the only team to bag maximum points from their three games so far after crushing hapless Indonesian side Sriwijaya 5-0 at home in Group F.
Equally dominant were Kawasaki who ripped apart Central Coast Mariners by the same score in Australia.
PHOTO: AP
Gamba look certain to make the knockout rounds with Chinese champions Shandong Luneng shaping up as favorites to join them after beating FC Seoul 2-0 to sit on six points to Seoul’s three.
In Kawasaki’s group, South Korea’s Pohang Steelers eased past China’s Tianjin Teda 1-0 with a 66th minute goal from Kim Jae-sung to leave them on five points behind the J-League team’s seven. The Mariners have two points and Tianjin one.
Gamba dominated from the outset against Sriwijaya and spent most of the match controlling the game from the Indonesian end of the pitch.
Brazilian striker Leandro scored a brace while Satoshi Yamaguchi and second-half substitute Michihiro Yasuda also got in on the act with an own goal by Ambrizal completing the rout.
Sriwijaya have now conceded 14 goals during their Champions League debut.
While the Mariners have let in fewer than their Indonesian counterparts, they were equally bad yesterday with Kawasaki leading 3-0 after 37 minutes.
The Japanese team’s neat passing and movement off the ball was a joy to watch and their forward line of North Korean international Chong Tese and Brazilians Vitor Junior and Juninho was irrepressible.
Tese opened the scoring in the eighth minute with a near-post header and Kawasaki doubled their lead when Hiroyuki Taniguchi scored off Juninho’s corner in the 22nd minute.
They made it 3-0 when Juninho’s shot was deflected by defender Nigel Boogaard into the net just before half-time.
Any hope of a Mariners’ revival was squashed soon after the restart when captain Kengo Nakamura rifled home a left-foot volley and Brazilian substitute Renatinho made it five.
In Jinan, Shandong gave their hopes of reaching the last 16 a major boost by winning a lively encounter with Seoul FC.
Shandong, who have been beset with injuries, had the better chances in the first-half but were unable to score with the goals finally coming from Lu Zheng on 55 minutes and Han Peng 17 minutes from time.
TAIWANESE EXITS: Fellow Australian Christopher O’Connell joined Tristan Schoolkate as a winner following his 6-1, 6-2 defeat of Tseng Hsin-chun Australian qualifier Tristan Schoolkate on Monday dispatched rising Brazilian talent Joao Fonseca 7-6 (7/5), 6-4 at the ATP Toronto Masters, ensuring a breakthrough into the world top 100. The 24-year-old from Perth moved to 98th in the ongoing live rankings as he claimed his biggest career victory by knocking out the ATP NextGen champion from November last year. Schoolkate, son of a tennis coach, won his first match over a top-50 opponent on his sixth attempt as he ousted the world No. 49 teenager from Brazil. The qualifier played a quarter-final this month in Los Cabos and won through qualifying for his
Top seeds Alexander Zverev of Germany and American Coco Gauff on Tuesday advanced to the third round of the Canadian Open after both players were pushed hard by their opponents. World No. 3 Zverev, playing in his first match since his first-round loss at Wimbledon, was far from his best, but emerged with a 7-6 (8/6), 6-4 win over Adam Walton under the lights in Toronto. Momentum shifted firmly in Zverev’s favor when he won a 52-shot rally in the first set tiebreak and he sealed the win on a double fault by the Australian in the second set. “It was a very
Canadian teenager Victoria Mboko upset top-seeded Coco Gauff 6-1, 6-4 on Saturday night to reach the National Bank Open quarter-finals. “Your support was incredible,” Mboko told the crowd in French after a chorus of “Ole, Ole, Ole” chants echoed around the venue. “I’m really happy to win today ... It’s incredible. I’m so happy to beat such a great champion.” Gauff dropped to 2-3 since winning the French Open. She followed the major victory with opening losses in Berlin and Wimbledon, then overcame double-fault problems to win two three-set matches in Montreal. Gauff had five double-faults on Saturday after having 23 in
Formula 1 champion Max Verstappen on Thursday said that he is staying with the Red Bull team next year, ending months of speculation over his future. “Some people just like to stir the pot, some people just like to create drama, but, for me, it’s always been quite clear, and also for next year,” the four-time champion said ahead of the Hungarian Grand Prix. “I’m discussing with the team already the plans — the things that we want to change for next year, so that means that I’m also staying with the team for next year,” he said. Verstappen has a contract with
RSS