FC Seoul required extra-time and then a penalty shootout to book their spot in the AFC Champions League quarter-finals on Wednesday, leaving the Urawa Red Diamonds heart-broken after an emotionally draining evening for all concerned.
Urawa were looking to maintain the 1-0 advantage that they earned in the first leg at home last week, however, their defensive mind-set is ultimately what cost them on Wednesday night.
After starting the game in relatively solid fashion, Urawa’s hopes of progressing by keeping a clean sheet were dashed in the 29th minute of the game as Dejan Damjanovic was set-up by Yo Han Go to score for Seoul.
With both sides desperate not to make a mistake the game continued in the most skittish manner.
90 minutes came and went in the blink of an eye and with the aggregate score tied at 1-1 the game entered extra-time.
Four minutes into the first-half of extra-time and it was Adriano who fired home his eleventh goal in Asia this year.
Seoul then attempted to close-out the game. However, disaster struck in the 112th minute of play as Tadanari Lee clawed Urawa back into the tie as he scored what was surely the most important goal of his career. Three-minutes later and Lee was at it again, completing a heroic brace as the Japanese outfit levelled matters on the evening but assumed a 3-2 aggregate lead.
It had to end that way, it simply had to… but it did not. Having set-up Damjanovic in the first-half of regular-time, Han Go turned from provider to goal-scorer as he scored in the 121st minute of play!
The tie then went to a shootout and it took eight tension-filled rounds of penalties before Seoul could be determined the winner, as Kim Dong-Woo scored after Yoshiaki Komai missed.
Despite, having finished as a runner-up in Asia on two occasions, Seoul have never won the AFC Champions League. Having come through such an intense test, they might now feel they have what it takes to go all the way this year.
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