Al Ain, a club from United Arab Emirates is champions of the latest edition of this tournament after beating Yokohama F.Marinos, a club from Japan scoring 5-1 in the AFC Champions League 2023/24 final second leg at Hazza Bin Zayed Stadium, Al Ain.
In the first match, Yokohama F.Marinos was on the advantage side after winning 2-1 at Yokohama International Stadium, Yokohama on last two weeks.
Al Ain took the initiative as they tried to make a home comeback, launching their signature counterattack in the 8th minute, with Sofiane Rahimi scoring the opening goal.
Then, in the 29th minute, Rahimi was brought down by Hatanaka Makinosuke in the penalty box, and after an on-field review, a penalty was awarded. Kaku smashed the penalty into the right corner to give Al Ain their second goal.
In the 40th minute, Yokohama F. Marinos’ Jan Matthäus stole the ball in a high position, cut back and shot into the net, bringing the score back to 1-2.
Yokohama FM wanted to start a counterattack, but an unexpected incident occurred in the first half’s additional time. Goalkeeper Pope William brought down Rahimi, who had broken through and was shown a red card for preventing a decisive goal-scoring opportunity.
Yokohama FM took off Élber in the front line and brought on goalkeeper Shirasaka Fuuma. They had to play the remaining time with 10 men.
In the second half, Al Ain stepped up their offensive efforts in the 67th minute when Rahimi cut back in the penalty area and fired a powerful shot with his left foot. In added time, Kojo Foh Daw Laba took advantage of a clearance error by goalkeeper Shirasaka and smashed the ball into the empty goal. Laba then redirected a shot from Matias Palacios to score the fifth goal.
The match ended with a score of 5-1. Al Ain won the ACL title with a total score of 6-3. This was Al Ain’s second victory in 21 years since the first tournament in the current format in 2003. Yokohama F. Marinos could not capitalize on their lead in the final’s first leg and failed to become the first club in history and the fourth J.League club to win the ACL.
Credit Photo : AFC
