FOOTBALL – MACHIDA Zelvia advanced to the quarter-finals of the Asian Champions League Elite yesterday as a 1-0 win over Gangwon FC took the Japanese side through while Buriram United saw off Melbourne City via a 4-2 penalty shoot-out victory in Thailand.
Former Cardiff City goalkeeper Neil Etheridge saved a pair of spot-kicks to take 10-man Buriram United into the last eight for the second season in a row after an eventful contest against the Australians finished in a 0-0 draw.
That saw the two-legged clash end 1-1 on aggregate with Etheridge denying Ryan Teague and Aziz Behich to take Mark Jackson’s team into the next round.
“Everything about the performance shows how together we are as a team,” said Etheridge. “I’ll take the plaudits for saving the penalties but for 100 minutes my team dug extremely deep to take it to the point where I was able to make those saves.”
Machida and Buriram are the first teams to secure their places in the quarter-finals, which will be played in Jeddah on a centralised basis along with the tournament’s semi-finals and final from April 16 to 25.
Japan’s Vissel Kobe take a 1-0 lead into the second leg of their meeting with FC Seoul today while Malaysia’s Johor Darul Ta’zim will defend a 3-1 advantage against hosts Sanfrecce Hiroshima.
Matches in the last 16 in the western half of the draw have been postponed due to the ongoing conflict in the Middle East.
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