Aspire Academy hit Kobe for six, PSG beat Atletico

By Sports Reporter/DohaAspire Academy romped an emphatic victory on Friday evening, hitting Vissel Kobe for six and delivering a resounding statement of intent in the process.Having suffered a 3-2 defeat to Arsenal the day before, Vissel went into the game knowing they must earn at least a point in order to keep their Cup dreams alive.Yet it was Aspire Academy who emerged the hungrier of the two sides. With a capacity crowd in the stands to cheer on the Doha-born players, Aspire made the most of their home advantage and completely overwhelmed Vissel with their pace and energy up front.Asserting themselves from the get-go, Aspire bagged their first goal after just four minutes after a crunching tackle felled striker Hazem Shehata on the edge of the Kobe box.Aspire’s Khaled Mazeed stepped up to float the resultant free kick the ball into the Kobe box. Khalid al-Naimi snuck away from the pack to meet the cross at the near post and fire past keeper Kaito Tsurata. On 27 minutes the home side doubled their advantage thanks to some individual magic from Khalid Mazeed, who demonstrated incredible confidence to take on four Kobe defenders, break into the box and fire at goal from a tight angle.Tsuruta could only divert Mazeed’s ambitious effort into the path of Meshaal Faraj, who slotted home with ease.With the game rapidly slipping away from Vissel, Aspire confounded the Japanese side’s misery by recording their third goal just before half-time.Newly introduced striker Hassan Palang used his pace to beat Kobe defenders Haruka Motoyama and Tomoyuki Maekawa before finishing confidently, ending Kobe’s chances of progression with 45 minutes still to play.Despite recording 68% possession, Vissel had managed just a single shot on target, while Aspire had converted all three of their efforts on goal.Perhaps it was this perceived injustice that kept the Japanese fighting and, as the second-half got underway, Kobe briefly looked like a different team. Urged forward by Head Coach Saturo Hoda, the Japanese side adopted a more attacking formation that was rewarded in the 58th minute when captain Tatsuiki Noda combined with Kenta Nohura on the edge of the Aspire box before finishing with a powerful drilled effort.However, any idea of a fightback was short-lived as, soon after the restart, Aspire grabbed their fourth of the game through another set-piece. Stepping up this time to take the free-kick was Hazem Shehata, who saw his effort deflect off the wall and into the top left corner.Just a minute later and the Kobe keeper was picking the ball out of the net yet again after Amro Ali Surag caught Yuma Tanigawa in possession. Charging down the middle, Surag broke into the box before unleashing a powerful shot that brought his side’s tally to five.With the game now well beyond Kobe, the Japanese side’s humiliation deepened on 86 minutes when Aspire’s Hazem Shehata picked up the ball on the left flank. Cutting inside, he beat three Kobe defenders before unleashing a powerful drilled effort into the bottom right corner.With the game finishing 6-1, Vissel Kobe are now unable to progress from the group stages. They will however get the chance to fight for some pride on Monday when the 3rd placed teams from each group compete for 8th place.Aspire Qatar, meanwhile, may just dare to dream after this impressive win.