Yokohama F. Marinos, club from Japan has qualified for the first round after defeating Hoang Anh Gia Lai, club from Vietnam with a score of 0-2 in the AFC Champions League 2022 group stage, Group H at Thong Nhat Stadium, Ho Chi Minh City.
Katsuya Nagato’s early effort was blocked by Tuan Linh as it flew low through a crowded penalty area, with Leo Ceara’s looping header of the rebound collected by the goalkeeper as the Japanese side sought the opener.
Leo Ceara tried his luck unsuccessfully from the edge of the area in the 15th minute and Kota Watanabe’s long-range effort four minutes later bent towards goal until Tuan Linh threw himself at full stretch to push the ball away for a corner as F Marinos steadily cranked up the pressure.
Nagato found the arms of Tuan Linh in the 27th minute before the constant probing of the HAGL defence finally paid off for the Japanese side. Teruhito Nakagawa was brought down with a clumsy challenge by Nguyen Huu Tuan and Marcos Junior sent Tuan Linh the wrong way with his spot kick.
HAGL were able to establish more of a foothold in the second half, with Vu Van Thanh heading wide of the target 10 minutes after the restart, while the midfielder forced a fine save out of an otherwise redundant Yohei Takaoka 12 minutes later, when the F Marinos keeper tipped the ball around the post.
However, with eight minutes remaining Yokohama extinguished any hope of a comeback for the Vietnamese side when Hatanaka steered Kota Mizunuma’s corner low and to Tuan Linh’s left, prompting delighted scenes among the Yokohama F.Marinos players as they moved to the verge of a place in the next round.
Credit Photo : AFC
