Saitama: Brazilian star Oscar pinpointed Urawa Red Diamonds’ goal in the first leg of the 2017 AFC Champions League semi-final as the difference maker after his Shanghai SIPG side were eliminated at the final four stage on Wednesday.
The Chinese Super League club fell agonisingly short of a first ever AFC Champions League final appearance at Saitama Stadium, being eliminated 2-1 on aggregate after a 1-0 semi-final second leg defeat away to the J.League team.
Andre Villas-Boas’s side lost by the same score when the sides clashed at Saitama Stadium in the group stage too, but Oscar believes the most important goal scored between the teams in this year’s competition was converted in the semi-finals first leg on September 27.
Yosuke Kashiwagi struck that killer blow in the 27th minute of the meeting in Shanghai – leveling things up after Hulk had given SIPG an early lead – and the 26-year-old feels it was one from which he and his teammates were ultimately unable to recover.
“I think the key for Urawa was the goal against Shanghai in the first game,” former Chelsea star Oscar said. “I think that was the key. They had just one shot and they scored the goal.”
Yosuke Kashiwagi found Urawa's equaliser at the 28th minute in the semi-finals first leg
Things were slightly more open in front of 44,357 fans in the second leg, but while a response to Rafael Silva's 11th-minute strike would have restored parity in the tie SIPG were unable to fully trouble Shusaku Nishikawa in the Urawa goal, and it was in fact the home side who went closest to adding to the score.
“Here of course they had a lot [of chances] because we also tried to attack a lot, but I think the key was the goal against us [in Shanghai],” said Oscar.
“I think we had bad luck. We played much better in the first game. We played well here too but they scored in Shanghai against us and here we knew it would be a difficult game.”
As the clock ticked down SIPG began to press more players forward in search of a precious away goal of their own, but they were left frustrated by a well-marshalled Urawa defence, which the Brazil international believes could steer Takafumi Hori’s men all the way to the title.
“I think we played well, but in the second half they defended very well and dropped the lines,” added Oscar.
“They have a good team – they all play together and they have a chance [in the final].”
Photos: Lagardère Sports
Source: the-afc.com