Vissel Kobe booked their place in the semi-finals of the AFC Champions League Elite Finals with a 5-4 penalty shoot-out win over Qatar’s Al Sadd after a thrilling 3-3 draw at the Prince Abdullah Al Faisal Sports City Stadium in Jeddah.
Substitute Jean Patric scored the winning penalty for Michael Skibbe’s team after Claudinho had fired his attempt high over the bar in the third round of spot-kicks for the Qatari side. Rafa Mujica had given Roberto Mancini’s outfit a sixth minute lead and the Spaniard restored his side’s advantage in the 61st minute after seeing Yuya Osako level for the Japanese in the 24th minute. Roberto Firmino added a third for Al Sadd in the 65th minute but Yusuke Ideguchi’s strike with 16 minutes remaining gave Kobe hope and Yoshinori Muto’s header in the third minute of stoppage time took the game into an additional 30 minutes.
Kobe will next face either defending champions Al Ahli Saudi from Saudi Arabia or Malaysia Super League champions Johor Darul Ta’zim, who meet at the King Abdullah Sports City Stadium Friday.
The Qataris made a strong start despite having had only three days’ rest following their extra time exertions in their penalty shoot-out win over Saudi Arabia’s Al Hilal in the Round of 16. Daiya Maekawa needed to be at his sharpest in the second minute, the Vissel Kobe goalkeeper throwing himself to his right to push Firmino’s strike from the edge of the area to safety in a flowing opening to the game.
Muto thumped an ambitious effort from more than 30 yards over the Al Sadd crossbar two minutes later but by the sixth minute, the Qatari side had punished the Japanese outfit on the counterattack.
Firmino’s backheel inside his own half found Claudinho and his first-time pass was shuttled forward to Akram Afif, who fed Mujica and his clinical finish from just inside the area found the bottom corner of Maekawa’s goal.
By the 24th minute, Kobe had pulled level. Gotoku Sakai stormed down the right and delivered an inch-perfect cross onto the head of the unmarked Osako, who powered a header to the left of Meshaal Barsham that the Al Sadd goalkeeper could not keep out. Firmino failed to bend his attempt to restore Al Sadd’s lead into the top corner of Maekawa’s goal in the 34th minute while Osako headed against the crossbar seconds later as the action switched from one end of the pitch to the other.
Sixteen minutes into the second half, Mujica put Al Sadd’s back in front with another fine finish.
Claudinho clipped his pass into the penalty area from deep towards Firmino and the Brazilian improvised by chesting the ball into the path of Mujica, who swept his volley beyond Maekawa’s dive.
Four minutes later another Al Sadd counterattack caught out the former J1 League champions. Afif’s long pass from inside his own half released Mujica and the former Las Palmas forward turned provider, delivering from the left into the path of Firmino and he slotted home his side-foot volley.
Ideguchi pulled one back for Kobe with 16 minutes left when he was set up by substitute Jean Patric, the midfielder dragging his right foot shot into the bottom corner to give Michael Skibbe’s side hope.
Afif should have snuffed that out with 10 minutes to go when he directed Firmino’s centre the wrong side of the target and Al Sadd were to rue that miss when Muto raced in at the near post to nod in Rikuto Hirose’s cross from the right.
Maekawa denied Javairo Dilrosun with a flying save in the 102nd minute before pulling off a fine stop to keep out Afif’s strike a minute into the second period of extra time.
The Japanese goalkeeper saved another goal-bound Dilrosun strike with five minutes left to take the quarter-final into a penalty shoot-out where Claudinho blazed his attempt over the bar to set up Jean Patric to fire the winner into the top corner.