Vissel Kobe seized the upper hand in their AFC Champions League Elite 2025/26 Round of 16 tie, grinding out a gritty 1-0 victory over FC Seoul at the Seoul World Cup Stadium, Seoul.
A first-half header from Brazilian powerhouse Matheus Thuler proved to be the difference, but the J1 League side owed as much to goalkeeper Daiya Maekawa, whose second-half heroics kept the hosts at bay.
The contest began with FC Seoul looking to dictate the tempo. In the 20th minute, Anderson ignited the home crowd, slicing through the Kobe midfield before unleashing a low drive that skipped agonizingly wide of the post.
However, Kobe showed the clinical edge that has defined their recent continental runs. Just three minutes after Anderson’s scare, Rikuto Hirose delivered a dangerous corner. A mistimed flick from Seoul’s Song Min-kyu inadvertently directed the ball toward the back post, where Thuler was waiting to stoop low and nod home from point-blank range.
Seoul nearly found an immediate response when Song rattled the crossbar with a shoulder-high volley, but the woodwork—and a sharp save from Gu Sung-yun to deny Kobe’s Daiju Sasaki—kept the scoreline narrow heading into the interval.
The defining moment of the second half arrived in the 66th minute. After a VAR-assisted review, Kobe’s Kento Hamasaki was penalized for a handball in the box, gifting FC Seoul a golden opportunity to level the aggregate.
Substitute Leonardo Ruiz stepped up to the spot, but his effort lacked the conviction needed to beat Maekawa. The Kobe shot-stopper guessed correctly, diving to his left to smother the under-hit strike and silence the Seoul faithful.
Despite late pressure from Moon Seon-min and further headed chances for Kobe’s Yuya Osako, the score remained unchanged. Thuler capped off a Man of the Match performance with a vital late interception to prevent Ruiz from poaching an equalizer in stoppage time.
Vissel Kobe, eyeing their first quarter-final appearance since 2022, now return to Japan with a 1-0 cushion. FC Seoul faces a daunting task next week, needing a clinical performance in Kobe to overturn the deficit and keep their ACL Elite dreams alive.
Credit Photo : AFC
