Sydney FC and Urawa Reds shared four goals in a pulsating AFC Champions League Group E game at Aussie Stadium between Australia’s first Hyundai A-League Grand Final winner and the glamour club that completely dominated Japanese football last season.
Sydney FC and Urawa Reds shared four goals in a pulsating AFC Champions League Group E game at Aussie Stadium between Australia’s first Hyundai A-League Grand Final winner and the glamour club that completely dominated Japanese football last season.
David Carney, singled out before the match by Urawa coach Holger Osieck, had Sydney FC fans in raptures inside 60 seconds, drilling a left-foot shot past Ryota Tsuzuki after finding himself on the end of a defence-splitting 30-metre pass from Mark Milligan.
Sydney FC doubled its advantage midway through the first half when Carney was brought down inside the penalty box. Ufuk Talay, scorer of Sydney FC’s second goal versus Shanghai Shenhua, made no mistake from the spot, sending Tsuzuki the wrong way.
Urawa Reds, who came to Australia as the reigning J.League and Emperor’s Cup champion, pulled back a goal after 30 minutes when one of their Brazilian contingent, Robson Ponte, hit a speculative first-time strike from the edge of the box which found its way past the outstretched fingertips of Sydney FC goalkeeper Clint Bolton.
Sydney FC went to the break 2-1 in front but Urawa Reds, its morale boosted by Ponte’s goal, levelled the scores through Yuchiro Nagai ten minutes after the restart. Nagai tapped home from close range after Bolton had dropped the ball right at his feet.
Both teams had chances to win the game in the second period but the match ended all-square, which leaves Sydney FC and Urawa Reds tied on four points two games into the campaign. Persik Kediri beat Shanghai Shenhua 1-0 to earn its first points of the event.
Sydney FC 2 (David Carney 1′, Ufuk Talay pen 22′)
Urawa Reds 2 (Robson Ponte 30′, Yuchiro Nagai 54′)
Date: Wednesday, March 21, 2007
Venue: Aussie Stadium, Sydney
Referee: Subkhiddin Mohd Salleh (Malaysia)
Crowd: 21,010
Sydney FC: 1. Clint BOLTON (gk), 2. Iain FYFE, 4. Mark RUDAN (captain), 6. Ufuk TALAY, 7. Robbie MIDDLEBY (8. Ruben ZADKOVICH 43′), 9. David ZDRILIC (15. Terry McFLYNN 46′), 10. Steve CORICA, 11. Nikolai TOPOR-STANLEY, 12. David CARNEY, 14. Alex BROSQUE, 16. Mark MILLIGAN.
Substitutes not used: 20. Dean BOUNZANIS (gk), 3. Nikolas TSATTALIOS, 5. Noel SPENCER, 17. Jacob TIMPANO, 19. Luka GLAVAS.
Yellow cards: Mark Milligan 44′, Nikolai Topor-Stanley 75′.
Urawa Reds: 23. Ryota TSUZUKI (gk), 2. Keisuke TSUBOI, 4. Marcus Tulio TANAKA, 5. Fabio NENE (17. Makoto HASEBE 38′), 6. Nobuhisa YAMADA (captain (14. Tadaaki HIRAKAWA 61′ (3. Hajime HOSOGAI 85′))), 8. Shinji ONO, 9. Yuchiro NAGAI, 10. Robson PONTE, 13. Keita SUZUKI, 21. WASHINGTON, 22. Yuki ABE.
Substitutes not used: 1. Norihiro YAMAGISHI (gk), 28. Nabuhiro KATO (gk), 7. Tomoyuki SAKAI, 19. Hideki UCHIDATE, 20. Satoshi HORINOUCHI, 30. Masayuki OKANO.
Yellow cards: Marcus Tulio Tanaka 65′, Makoto Hasebe 70′.
