Evergrande came into the match holding a slim advantage after taking the first leg 2-1 at home, and full of confidence, having not lost a match in any competition since Luiz Felipe Scolari took control of the club in May.
A draw was all Evergrande would need from this match in Osaka to advance to the final of Asia's premier club competition.
Neither side generated much of an attack in the first-half, but Guangzhou had the best chance in the 43rd minute with a strike by Elkeson that was well saved by Masaaki Higashiguchi. The Brazilian looked for the far side of the goal, but was denied as the half ended scoreless.
After the restart, Elkeson had another opportunity to break the deadlock in the 52nd minute, but curled his shot just over the crossbar from a great position.
There was some controversy in the 64th minute when a Gamba corner-kick is knocked away by Guangzhou's Paulinho. Osaka's Keisuke Iwashita pleaded for a handball by the former Brazil international, but the referee did not award a penalty.
With Japan boss Vahid Halilhodzic watching from his box, Samurai Blue international Takashi Usami had a chance in the 71st minute, but his shot flew just wide of the far post.
Usami then had another opportunity in the 84th, but his drive went just wide of the far post, as Gamba failed again to score the goal that would send them to the final.
And the host team never got an elusive winning goal, as the final whistle blew on a 0-0 draw that was enough to send Scolari's Evergrande into the AFC Champions League final, with a 2-1 aggregate victory.
Huang Bowen (16, in yellow) of China's Guangzhou Evergrande heads the ball during the AFC Champions League semi-final match between Japan's Gamba Osaka and Guangzhou Evergrande in Osaka, Japan, Oct. 21, 2015. Guangzhou Evergrande tied with Gamba Osaka 0-0 in the second leg of the Asian Champions League semifinals here on Wednesday, making to the ACL final with an aggregate score 2-1. China Ebay
没有评论:
发表评论