Kevin Muscat’s long football career has drawn to a close as Melbourne Victory’s AFC Champions League campaign petered out with a 1-1 draw with Jeju United in Korea.
As it turned out, the result of the match meant nothing for either side as Gamba Osaka got a 2-0 win over Tianjin Teda in Japan to top the group which meant neither of these sides could have progressed.
But the two teams put on an entertaining match, with Jeju skipper Kim Eun-Jung scoring the opener in the 24th minute before Diogo Ferreira equalised with a scorching volley just after the hour.
Melbourne hit the back of the net on no less than five other occasions on the night, but in accordance with the luck they have had this campaign, all five were ruled offside, despite two being showed to be legal on video replay.
Muscat wasn’t the only player to farewell Melbourne Victory, with Robbie Kruse playing his last game before taking up his contract with Bundesliga 2 outfit Fortuna Dusseldorf.
As you would expect from a game which both sides had to win, it was end to end for much of the contest and inside the first five minutes Melbourne were hard done by, with Danny Allsopp’s goal ruled out for offside despite the fact he was played on by one of the Jeju fullbacks.
After that, the majority of attacking action in the first half came from the home side, with Kim Young-Sin’s shot deflected wide before Park Hyun-Beom missed an excellent chance when he was through on goal.
Melbourne responses weren’t strong enough to beat the keeper with Carlos Hernandez and Allsopp both hitting tame shots straight at Kim Ho-Jum.
Jeju took control on the scoreboard on 24 minutes when the delightful chipped ball in the midfield from Kang Joon-Woo allowed Kim Eun-Jung to turn and fire straight past Tando Velaphi the give the home side the lead.
The end to end attacking action continued and two minutes after the goal, Adrian Leijer headed wide from a corner, while soon after Kruse beat the keeper, but Kang was there to clear the ball away.
Melbourne had Velaphi to thank for trailing by just one goal at the break when he pulled off an excellent save to deny Bae Ki-Jong, while just before half time, Leigh Broxham sent a possible equaliser over the bar after a promising build up.
As the second half started, news filtered through that Gamba Osaka had taken the lead, effectively killing off any chance for either side. To compound Melbourne’s disappointment, they hit the back of the net three times in the first seven minutes of the second half, only for the linesman’s flag to deny them every time.
The second one, to Archie Thompson, looked marginal at best, while up the other end Velaphi’s outstanding evening continued as he kept out a shot from Kim Eun-Jung. Thompson picked up a knock soon after and left the field on the hour replaced by Billy Celeski.
The Victory goal came from a very unlikely source, when from a rebound from a corner Ferreira chanced his luck with his side-footed volley which proved unstoppable.
The chances continued to flow at either end as Santos hit the upright and missed a couple of other chances, while Kruse, Allsopp and even substitute Surat Sukha shot just wide but neither side could break the deadlock.
There was late drama when Kang was sent off for an elbow on Matthew Foschini but that did nothing to hide the fact that Melbourne failed to progress from the group stage of the AFC Champions League for the third time.
Jeju United 1 (Kim 24)
Melbourne Victory 1 (Ferreira 61)
At Jeju World Cup Stadium
