Melbourne Victory’s hopes of making it past the group stages of the AFC Champions League are on the brink after a 2-1 home loss to Korean side Jeju United at Docklands Stadium.
Both sides were desperate for wins after first-up losses, and it looked like Melbourne, playing their first game under caretaker coach Mehmet Durakovic, would get what they wanted when Danny Allsopp scored in the 37th-minute.
But Park Hyun-Bem’s 41st-minute effort put last year’s K-League runners-up back in the contest and they completed a memorable win when Lee Hyun Ho scored the winner against the run of play with just six minutes remaining. They are now back in the running with three points from two matches.
Victory, whose foundation coach Ernie Merrick departed the club just three days before this contest, had chances to win the match in the second half, but paid for their profligacy and are now on the precipice of yet another exit at the group stages of Asia’s biggest club tournament.
They are pointless in two matches and will be at least three points adrift of second spot regardless of the result of the clash between group leaders Gamba Osaka and Tianjin Teda, who meet later on Tuesday in China.
Both sides spurned early chances with Lee Hyun-Ho shooting over before Allsopp failed to get a shot off when through on keeper Kim Ho-Jun.
From that point, the visitors took control and should have had the lead when Santos somehow failed to connect with Bae Ki-Jong’s free kick nine minutes in. On 20 minutes, Marvin Angulo’s shoulder was all that prevented Hong Jeong-Ho from giving his side the lead, while Santos shot wide and Lee headed straight at Michael Petkovic in the Melbourne goal as the home side were forced onto the back foot.
That glut of missed chances would come back to haunt the K-League side, who saw Melbourne take the lead on 37 minutes. Adrian Leijer intercepted a pass and gave the ball off to the impressive Tom Pondeljak, who in turn delivered to Archie Thompson. Thompson could shoot or pass and wisely chose the latter, with Allsopp curling a shot into the net courtesy of a slight deflection from a Jeju defender.
It took Jeju just four minutes to bounce back, with Melbourne yet again found out from a corner. Debutant Isaka Cernak failed to clear and the ball fell to Park, who slotted through a maze of legs.
Seconds later it could have so easily been 2-1, with Kim Eun-Jung forcing a superb reflex save from Petkovic. Kim Ho Jun would produce a similar quality stop on the cusp of the half-time break, defying Pondeljak’s long-range effort.
After a cautious start to the second stanza, things changed dramatically with Carlos Hernandez’s entry on the hour mark. The Costa Rican set-up Thompson almost immediately and the Hyundai A-League’s most prolific marksman missed his effort by millimetres.
Soon after, Hernandez went wide himself, while Thompson and Allsopp again had chances set-up by the busy Costa Rican. Kevin Muscat also shot just over from a 75th-minute Hernandez corner.
