AFC Champions League Two action resumes this week, and while Sydney FC may not have gotten the better of Sanfrecce Hiroshima in either of their meetings, they’re in a good enough position that they could clinch a spot in the knockouts a little early. In order to do that, though, they’ll need to take care of business in Hong Kong against Eastern SC. Before this Kowloon kickoff, let’s remind ourselves what Sydney did last time out, catch up on their opponents, and see what it’ll take to make the best of the trip.
Sydney second fiddle to Sanfrecce
After a 2-1 loss to Sanfrecce Hiroshima in Japan, Sydney took things back to their home turf with revenge on their minds.
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The chances for it were certainly there—as with the first match, Sydney had the edge in possession throughout, and in the first half specifically, the Sky Blues were able to create more chances than the Three Arrows without making costly defensive mistakes and falling into a hole. Both sides took their shots and made their share of shoulda-beens, and the game went to half-time scoreless.
When things resumed, a draw or even a win was very much on the cards for Sydney, and in hopes of preventing that, Sanfrecce started looking to their bench. As it turned out, they’d find an instant hero. Mutsuki Kato hadn’t even been on the pitch for a full 60 seconds when he saw a cross fly in from Takaaki Shichi, read it well, and used his head to turn it into a dart. In a blink of an eye, the shot flew in and Sanfrecce were once again in front.
With 30 minutes plus stoppage time left to play, Sydney would find their chances to retaliate and snatch back a point, but unfortunately for them, Sanfre keeper Keisuke Osako picked this stretch to activate god mode. Osako made several crucial saves, including an absolutely unreal thwarting of Max Burgess at close range, and Sydney simply couldn’t crack his code, dooming the A-Leaguers to a 1-0 defeat.
With this result, the Three Arrows now have twelve points to Sydney’s six and the head-to-head tiebreaker in hand. This means Hiroshima are not only the first team through to the East Asian knockouts, but the first on this side to fully clinch their group. However, Sydney have a pretty straightforward path through the rest of the group, and while they couldn’t quite stave off Macarthur, the subsequent 4-2 win over Western Sydney in the Unite Round should give the Sky Blues a massive wave of confidence they can ride into this next bout.
Catching up with Eastern SC
With the battle of the haves over with, Sydney now returns to picking on the have-nots, starting with their rematch against Eastern. In the opening match of the group, Sydney more than got the job done, scoring thrice before the Spanish Hongkongers said “Oh, no, you don’t! I’ll help myself!” and gave away a pair of own goals. Needless to say, Eastern won’t want to repeat that Pete Puma routine for their home crowd.
Just as the Sky Blues used these clubs’ last meeting to bounce back from a disastrous Australia Cup, Los Del Este have taken their chances to pick up steam since we last saw them. They still sit undefeated atop the Hong Kong Premier League table, with a single extra goal winning them the tiebreaker against Tai Po. In the Senior Shield tournament, they’ve strung together a couple of wins and have a date lined up with Hong Kong Rangers in the semi-finals. Most relevant for our purposes, they picked up a 2-1 victory against Kaya-Iloilo in the Philippines, though Kaya would return the favour in the return leg.
In that time, the expected players have emerged to make their mark, from domestic talents like Yapp Hung Fai and Jesse Yu Joy Yin to the Spanish contingent of Daniel Almazan, Marcos Gondra and Noah Baffoe. That trio have scored all five of Los Del Este’s goals thus far, and the team will look to Baffoe in particular to ensure they shock the world in Kowloon.
The keys to victory—and advancing early
While some parts of the path to victory are much harder to replicate than others—chief among them the pair of own goals—Sydney have every reason to come into this with confidence. As long as they play smart and to their strengths, they should get the win.
Anas Ouahim celebrates with teammates. (Photo by Mark Metcalfe/Getty Images)
However, if this turns out to be a close affair, there’s one new tactical wrinkle Sydney can lean on—namely, Eastern’s sloppy defence in their own box. Over the course of their two matches with Kaya, Los Del Este gave up three goals, all of which came off of penalty kicks, and the latter two added up to a defeat in their own stadium.
Combine that with steady shooters who can exploit Eastern keeper Yapp Hung Fai’s small size, and you have the perfect recipe for a less scrupulous road to victory if needed.
Make no mistake, Sydney will want to win this by hook or by crook, because if they do that and Kaya-Iloilo fail to defeat Sanfrecce Hiroshima, then the Sky Blues will instantly punch their ticket out of Group E and into the knockouts.
While a draw could technically do it under the right circumstances, the reality is that slipping up and failing to clinch here will mean dealing with a very motivated Kaya in just one week’s time with everything on the line. If and when the chance to avoid that presents itself, Sydney need to be ready to go for the throat.