Leroy George has rescued a point for Melbourne Victory in a dramatic Asian Champions League clash with Kawasaki Frontale in Japan.
The Dutchman converted an injury time penalty to earn Victory a 2-2 draw and keep alive their chances of progress beyond the group stages.
Gees… talked about late drama-rama! Leroy George from the penalty spot. ??♀️??♀️??♀️
— Tara Rushton (@TaraRushton) March 7, 2018
The defending J-League champions took the lead after 28 minutes at the Todoroki Athletics Stadium before Besart Berisha equalised shortly afterwards.
Kawasaki Frontale regained the advantage ten minutes into the second half and looked to have secured all three points as the clock ran down.
But Christian Theoharous, on as a late substitute for Kosta Barbarouses, was fouled in the box and George made no mistake from the spot.
Victory have two points from three games and host their Japanese opponents on Tuesday.
It all came down to this… #KAWvMEL #MVFC pic.twitter.com/8g79eOBimR
— Melbourne Victory (@gomvfc) March 7, 2018
GOALS
Elsinho Kawasaki Frontale 1-0, 28′
After a slick exchange of passes on the edge of the area, Ryota Oshima’s attempted shot was deflected into the path of the Brazilian who buried a low drive into the bottom corner.
Besart Berisha Melbourne Victory 1-1, 36′
Leroy George’s whipped corner wasn’t dealt with the by the hosts and the deadly Victory marksman bundled the ball home from close range.
Kyohei Noborizato Kawasaki Frontale 2-1, 55′
At the end of a delightful passing move, Yu Kobayashi cut the ball back for his team-mate to tap into an empty net.
Leroy George Melbourne Victory 2-2, 90+3′
Theoharous was fouled in the box deep into added time; George fired the resulting spot-kick straight down the middle and while goalkeeper Shota Arai got his hands to the ball, he couldn’t keep it out.
