South Korean football champions Ulsan HD FC crashed out of the semifinals in the top Asian club tournament Wednesday, unable to hold on to an early lead in their pursuit of a third continental title.
Ulsan lost to 10-man Yokohama F. Marinos 5-4 in the penalty shootout in the second leg of the semifinals at the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Champions League at Yokohama International Stadium in rainy Yokohama, Japan. The teams were all knotted at 3-3 in the aggregate score, following Ulsan’s 1-0 win in the opening leg last week and Yokohama’s 3-2 edge in the second leg.
The two sides remained tied after 90 minutes of regulation and 30 minutes of extra time. In the shootout, Yokohama goalkeeper William Popp denied Ulsan’s fifth penalty taker, Kim Min-woo, and Eduardo converted his chance to send Yokohama to the final.
Ulsan, who struck the woodwork three times Wednesday, were chasing their third AFC title, after winning it in 2012 and 2020.
Yokohama struck first only 13 minutes into the contest, capita
lizing on some shoddy defense by Ulsan.
Yan Matheus sent a cross from the right wing, and the ball went off the knee of Yokohama’s South Korean midfielder Nam Tae-hee and bounced into the box. Two Ulsan defenders, Hwang Seok-ho and Kim Young-gwon, both hesitated and couldn’t clear the ball. That allowed Asahi Uenaka to pounce on the ball and score past goalkeeper Jo Hyeon-woo.
Anderson Lopes doubled Yokohama’s lead in the match and gave them a 2-1 lead on aggregate in the 21st minute, finding the bottom right corner with his left-footed shot. Defender Kim Young-gwon stood in front of him without closing the gap near the center of the box.
Yokohama opened up a 3-0 lead at the half-hour mark, as Uenaka netted his second goal of the match. After receiving a pass from Nam a few feet outside the area, Uenaka was allowed to dribble toward the box untouched and unleash a right-footed shot. It put Yokohama up 3-1 on aggregate.
Ulsan refused to go away. Matheus Sales put the South Korean club on the board in the 3
5th minute with a header goal, set up by Lee Dong-gyeong’s corner.
With Ulsan now down 3-2 on aggregate, the match took a dramatic turn four minutes later when Ulsan earned a penalty.
Takumi Kamijima was called for a handball violation inside the box while trying to stop Um Won-sang on a counter break and ended up getting a straight red card. Darijan Bojanic then scored the ensuing penalty to level the aggregate score at 3-3.
Ulsan came within inches of taking the lead when Lee Dong-gyeong struck the crossbar with a right-footed attempt from outside the box one minute into added time.
After the restart, both clubs had a goal disallowed on offside calls.
Ulsan thought they had grabbed a 4-3 aggregate lead in the opening moments of the second half, when Seol Young-woo teed up Bojanic for a right-footed shot inside the box. But a video review determined that Gustav Ludwigson had been offside on the play and the goal was wiped out.
In the 62nd minute, Yan Matheus’ header goal was also called back when the B
razilian forward himself was ruled to have been in an offside position.
Ulsan hit the woodwork for the second time in the 87th minute, with Kim Min-woo taking a shot as he fell and finding only the left goal post.
Ulsan kept knocking on the Yokohama door, but the goal that would send them to the final did not come in regulation.
About two minutes into the extra session, Kim Young-gwon tested goalkeeper William Popp with a midrange strike. In the 108th minute, Yokohama’s Kota Mizunuma caught Ulsan defenders napping with a close-range shot, but Jo came up with a diving stop to keep the aggregate score tied.
Kelvin found the left post with a right-footed attempt in the 114th minute, with Popp getting a piece of the ball on the hard shot. About a minute later, Kim Min-woo was ruled offside as he poked home a rebound after a chaotic scramble inside the box.
In the shootout, the first four shooters for each side scored, before Kim Min-woo fumbled his left-footed attempt and Popp made a relatively easy save div
ing to his left. Eduardo made no mistake and beat Jo to the bottom left corner to cap off the wild night in Yokohama.
Source: Yonhap News Agency