NEWS

Gamba Osaka battled to a 1-1 draw with Henan Jianye of China at home, but Sanfrecce Hiroshima fell 2-1 to defending Asian champions Pohang Steelers in their second group-stage match in the AFC Champions League on Wednesday night.

Gamba are tied with Henan Jianye on two points in Group G. Leaders Suwon Bluewings of Korea Republic have four points while Singapore Armed Forces are bottom with no points. Suwon won 2-0 over SAF in Singapore.
Hiroshima remained at the bottom of Group H with no points. Australian club Adelaide United leads with six points, while Pohang Steelers and Chinese club Shandong Luneng both have three points.
In Osaka, Gamba forward Cho Jae Jin threatened the Henan goal soon after the kickoff with a header from an Akira Kaji cross, but ACL debutants Henan, who finished third in last year’s Chinese Super League, went ahead in the fourth minute when midfielder Zhang Lu latched on to a Daillo Amadou rebound.
Gamba rallied hard with efforts from Cho and his Brazilian partner Pedro Junior, but the Osaka attackers were often frustrated by their markers.
In the 35th minute, Lucas was brought down in the box and the Brazilian midfielder made no mistake with the spot kick to level the scores at 1-1.
The hosts went on the attack after the break and came close with attempts from former Korean international Cho, Yasuhito Endo, Sota Nakazawa and Hideo Hashimoto.
Gamba manager Akira Nishino sent on speedy midfielder Hayato Sasaki in an attempt to increase his side’s offensive power, but the two-time Emperor’s Cup holders couldn’t produce any more goals.
“If you let your opponents go ahead, this happens,” Nishino said. “That’s what I warned our players about before the game. But we gave away the first goal and made the game hard for us. Without that goal early in the game, things would have gone differently.”
“Henan’s defense was so solid and high. It was hard for us to break through their defense,” he added.
In Korea, Sanfrecce were under pressure by Pohang from the start of the game and struggled to create chances.
Pohang broke the deadlock in the 54th minute when defender Hwang Jae Won headed in a Kim Jae Sung free-kick.
Sanfrecce attempted to rally with efforts from Japan forward Hisato Sato and substitute forward Tadanari Lee.
Two minutes from time, the visitors leveled the scores with a penalty after defender Tomoaki Makino was brought down in the box. Sanfrecce defender Ilian Stoyanov converted the spot kick.
But Sanfrecce gave up a goal two minutes into stoppage time when forward Almir Lopes latched on to a loose ball and slotted home the winner.
Sanfrecce manager Mihailo Petrovic commented, “Both teams played a good game. We gave away goals on set plays and the second one in particular was a little unlucky. We defended well against opponents who are dangerous in attack. It seems that we didn’t have the luck to win the game.”
Sanfrecce will next play group-leaders Adelaide United in Australia on March 24. They beat Shandong Luneng 2-0 in China for their second straight win. Gamba will visit Singapore Armed Forces on March 23.