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Western Sydney Wanderers became the second Australian team to reach the AFC Champions League final with a 2-0 win over FC Seoul in Sydney yesterday. |
Goals from Mateo Poljak and Shannon Cole in both halves sent the Wanderers, playing for the first time in the competition, through 2-0 on aggregate to the two-leg final against Saudi Arabia’s Al Hilal.
Adelaide United in 2008 was the first Australian club to play in the final of the Asian football showpiece against Japan’s Gamba Osaka.
“That’s got to be the best, making a Champions League final,” said Wanderers coach Tony Popovic. “It’s great to be in the final and we join Adelaide.
“It’s difficult to get in there, they did a great job getting there, and we’ll do our best to try and do one better for football in Australia.”
Wanderers’ victory was thanks largely to their impregnable defence, superbly marshalled by Nikolai Topor-Stanley. They reached the final with their eighth clean sheet in the competition.
FC Seoul’s defeat after a 0-0 draw in the first leg at home ended a run of five consecutive appearances in the AFC Champions League final by South Korean teams.
Making the final caps an astonishing achievement by the Wanderers, coming after just two seasons in the A-League under coach Popovic.
To get there they overcame Japan’s Sanfrecce Hiroshima in the round of 16, the ACL champions Guangzhou Evergrande of China in the quarter-finals and last year’s runners-up FC Seoul.
Wanderers will have home advantage in the first leg of the two-leg final against Al Hilal on October 25, with the second leg in Saudi Arabia on November 1.
Wanderers got off to a dream start in just the third minute when Poljak’s cracking volley off goalkeeper Yu Sang-Hun’s punch out found the net from outside the goal area.
The home side had a couple more chances but Brendon Santalab squandered them, while the Koreans looked the more composed and purposeful on the ball.
FC Seoul dominated possession and had six corners to nil in the opening half, while Wanderers were struggling to keep the ball. The Wanderers took more of the game in the second half and grabbed the killer goal through defender Cole in the 64th minute.
He headed home Labinot Haliti’s cross, leaving FC Seoul with the difficult task of scoring twice to reach the final.
Al Hilal reached their first Asian Champions League final in 13 years on Tuesday, despite losing 2-1 to Emirates hosts Al Ain in the second leg of their semi-final.
Al Hilal went through to the decider 4-2 on aggregate.