Kawasaki Frontale ended Gamba Osaka’s reign as Asian champions as a late goal by substitute Masaru Kurotsu saw it claim a memorable 3-2 victory in its Asian Champions League round-of-16 tie.
Brazilian forward Leandro twice put the home side ahead in the all-Japanese clash at Expo ’70 Stadium.
But goals by Kawasaki skipper Kengo Nakamura and Renatinho drew the visitors level before Kurotsu netted the winner with five minutes remaining to hand Gamba its first ever home defeat in the competition.
Keen to defend the title that it won in decisive fashion with a 5-0 aggregate victory over Adelaide United in last year’s final, Gamba boss Akira Nishino fielded a full-strength side and his team dominated the early exchanges.
Lucas, Satoshi Yamaguchi and Yasuhito Endo all went close before Leandro broke the deadlock in the 27th minute, latching on to a through ball by Hideo Hashimoto and beating two defenders before slotting past goalkeeper Eiji Kawashima.
But Nakamura had Kawasaki back on level terms six minutes later when the Japan international gathered the ball on the edge of the Gamba area and blasted his effort past Yosuke Fujigaya.
However, the hosts would regain the lead six minutes before the interval as Leandro despatched Akira Kaji’s cross with a header for his 10th goal of the competition.
Lucas could have put the game beyond Kawasaki with a 63rd minute effort and his miss would prove costly as the visitors equalised once again in the 76th minute as Brazilian forward Renatinho fired home from just outside the box.
With extra time looming, Kurotsu grabbed the winner in the 85th minute, latching on to a through ball from Nakamura and firing past Fujigaya from the edge of the box to send the defending champions crashing out of the tournament.
Japanese side Nagoya Grampus marched into the last eight as goals by Yoshizumi Ogawa and Keiji Tamada saw off Korean champions Suwon Bluewings 2-1 at the Mizuho Athletic Stadium.
Suwon had the better of possession in the last-16 match but Ogawa struck against the run of play midway through the first half and Tamada extended the advantage with a superb finish in the 66th minute.
Brazilian striker Edu cut the deficit three minutes after Tamada’s strike but Suwon was unable to muster an equaliser as it bowed out of the competition.
Its misery was compounded in the last minute by the dismissal of Yang Sang-min.
Park Yong-ho converted the crucial penalty as FC Seoul overcame 10-man Kashima Antlers 5-4 in a shootout at Kashima Stadium to advance to the quarter-finals.
With the scores locked at 2-2 following extra time in the last-16 clash, Park held his nerve in sudden death to send Seoul through after the hosts had recovered from missing their opening two spot-kicks.
