Thu, 28 Oct, 2021
Seongnam: Korean FA Cup winners Seongnam FC claimed their first win of the 2015 AFC Champions League as Ricardo Bueno’s early spot kick and Hwang Ui-jo’s second half strike earned a 2-0 win over Japanese treble winners Gamba Osaka on Tuesday.
Brazilian forward Ricardo Bueno slotted home a penalty after just eight minutes of the Group F tie at Tancheon Sports Complex before Hwang doubled the advantage on 68 minutes for two-time continental champions Seongnam who lost last week’s opener to Buriram United in Thailand.
After their defeats in the opening round - Gamba were beaten by China’s Guangzhou R&F in Japan - both teams made four changes to their starting line-ups with hosts Seongnam bringing in defenders Yun Young-sun and Kim Tae-youn, as well as midfielder Lee Jong-won and forward Hwang.
While for Gamba, two Koreans made their first starts of the 2015 tournament with Oh Jae-suk and Kim Jung-ya coming in alongside midfielder Shu Kurata and Brazilian forward Lins.
Kim in upbeat mood as Seongnam claim win
And one of those changes was involved in the action within the first 10 minutes as Hwang was hauled down inside the penalty area by Shohei Ogura and Ricardo Bueno stepped up to slot the penalty comfortably past Masaaki Higashiguchi after sending the Gamba custodian the wrong way.
Gamba looked to play their way back into the tie but apart from Yasuhito Endo’s free kick that was fired directly into the midriff of goalkeeper Park Jun-huk, the visitors had little to show for their first half efforts.
And Seongnam went close to doubling their lead seven minutes after the interval as captain Kim Do-heon raced into the right-hand side of the penalty area and unleashed a furious strike on goal from an angle that Higashiguchi did well to push away at his front post with a leaping save.
Gamba forward Patric then combined well with Hiroyuki Abe at the other end, but the latter could only drive his shot straight at the Seongnam goalkeeper.
The hosts did look the more likely to score again as the half progressed, though, and with 22 minutes remaining they did so through Hwang as the striker latched on to Kim Tae-youn’s flicked header and stepped aside the challenge of Daiki Niwa inside the left of the penalty area before curling his shot past Higashiguchi.
Patric had a chance to pull one back for Gamba inside the final 10 minutes after combining with Kurata inside the area, but Park was equal to the Brazilian’s effort, saving low at his near post.
And the Seongnam goalkeeper also denied Patric in stoppage time, this time from close-range as the visitors were forced to settle for a second consecutive defeat.
Photo: WSG