Kashima Antlers' reign as Asian champions came to end on Wednesday as last year's winners exited the 2019 AFC Champions League on the away goals rule at the hands of Guangzhou Evergrande after being held to a 1-1 draw by the Chinese Super League leaders at Kashima Soccer Stadium.

With the first leg in Guangzhou having ended scoreless last month, Anderson Talisca's 40th minute goal proved to be decisive despite Seringho's equaliser six minutes into the second half as Fabio Cannavaro's side progressed to the semi-finals.

There they will meet fellow two-time champions Urawa Red Diamonds next month, with the winners meeting either Al Sadd from Qatar or Saudi Arabia's Al Hilal in November's two-legged final.

Wei Shihao started on the bench for Guangzhou Evergrande while Zhang Linpeng did not make Cannavaro's matchday squad as neither Ryohei Shirasaki nor Kento Misao were considered fit enough to be selected by Kashima coach Go Oiwa for his 18-man squad.

Guangzhou adopted a robust approach in the opening exchanges and, in addition to taking the lead late in the first half, the former winners racked up four bookings, with Huang Bowen, Zheng Zhi, Talisca and Deng Hanwen all entering referee Ahmed Al Kaf's notebook.

But while the Chinese Super League leaders were making their presence known, Kashima were the team looking more likely to score.

Sho Ito steered his header off target just after the three minute mark while Leo Silva's deflected attempt from the edge of the area forced Zeng Cheng into a fine flying save, the goalkeeper pushing the ball wide for a corner.

Serginho went close two minutes after the half hour mark, almost capitalising on the Guangzhou defence's inability to clear Ryota Nagaki's free-kick with an overhead attempt that flew narrowly past Zeng's right post.

Evergrande, however, gained the upper hand five minutes before the break when the Kashima defence was unable to keep Talisca at bay as he stormed through the penalty area to power home Huang's corner.

That goal sparked a response from Kashima and, within six minutes of the restart, the champions were level. Leo Silva's curling strike from inside the area was destined to go to the left of Zeng, only for Serginho to divert the ball to the other side of the goalkeeper as the Brazilian gave Kashima a lifeline.

But with Guangzhou holding an away goal, Oiwa's team needed to score again, forcing the holders to continue to push. Zeng did well to block Jung Seung-hyun at close range while Serginho went closer still to adding a second, only to see his left foot strike from outside the area crash against the crossbar.

Try as they might, though, Kashima were unable to find a way past a resolute Guangzhou defence and the seven-time Chinese Super League winners held on to advance to the semi-finals at the expense of the champions and keep their hopes of a record third title alive.

Related

Go to Forum >>0 Comment(s)