FC Tokyo eliminated Brisbane Roar from the AFC Champions League on Wednesday with a 4-2 victory in pouring rain at the National Olympic Stadium in Tokyo.
FC Tokyo eliminated Brisbane Roar from the AFC Champions League on Wednesday with a 4-2 victory in pouring rain at the National Olympic Stadium in Tokyo.
While the A-League club’s chances of advancing to the ACL knockout stages were slim before Wednesday’s match, Tokyo extinguished the Roar’s hopes with a clinical performance.
Brisbane’s willingness to attack and their commitment to passing the ball on the ground was admirable, but the visitors let themselves down with missed passes and loose defending.
The match, which was Rado Vidosic’s first as Brisbane’s head coach, started in frantic fashion with two goals in the first five minutes.
After just four minutes the Roar’s Thomas Broich curled a free-kick into the box, Besart Berisha got clear in the penalty area his diving header crashed against the post.
Amazingly, the Albanian striker still had time to get up and tuck away the rebound before the home side’s defenders reacted.
But as Brisbane’s travelling supporters were still celebrating, Tokyo struck back.
A right-wing cross was deflected to the penalty spot and while Yohei Kajiyama’s shot was blocked by Matt Smith, Hideto Takahashi smashed the loose ball into the left upright before it ended up in the bottom corner.
Tokyo dominated after the equalising goal and they hit the front in the 20th minute thanks to another attack down the right-hand side.
Aria Hasegawa burst through the middle before releasing Takahashi and the right-back’s cross made it through a group of players to Kenta Mukuhara who tucked the ball away.
As the half continued the Roar began to get more of the ball and scored a deserved equaliser in the 33rd minute when Broich cut in from the right.
The German playmaker’s first shot was blocked but he slotted his second just inside the far post.
But just as Brisbane started to look comfortable, Tokyo took the lead thanks to a penalty.
Kazuma Watanabe was tripped on the edge of the box by Mohamed Adnan and the referee pointed to the spot.
It was Brisbane’s third penalty in three ACL matches and the second in consecutive games for Adnan.
Watanabe stepped up to score and Tokyo led 3-2 at the break.
Any hopes Brisbane had of a comeback were extinguished when Watanabe scored his second goal of the game 15 minutes into the second half.
A well-placed pass pierced the Roar’s flat defence and Tokyo’s 25-year-old striker calmly placed the ball in the bottom corner of the goal.
Brisbane had more possession after Watanabe’s second goal, but although Erik Paartalu hit the crossbar, they never looked a serious chance of getting back in the match and they remain winless from five games in ACL Group F.
FC Tokyo 4 (Hideto Takahashi 5, Kenta Mukuhara 20, Kazuma Watanabe 44, 60)
Brisbane Roar 2 (Besart Berisha 4, Thomas Broich 33)
