Pakhtakor draw away comfort
FootballAsia.com
October 20Seongnam Ilhwa Chunma 0 Pakhtakor 0
AFC Champions League semi-final, first leg
Seongnam Ilhwa Chunma will have to do what no side has managed in 10 AFC Champions League matches - beat Pakhtakor on home soil - if they are to advance to next month's final of the AFC Champions League.
A dour 0-0 draw in Seongnam means the Uzbekistan league champions are now clear favourites to book an appointment with either Al Ittihad, of Saudi Arabia, or Korea's Chonbuk Hyundai Motors, who met on Tuesday in Jeddah. The Saudis lead 2-1 going into next week's second leg.
The Uzbeks, who were knocked out of Asia's premier club competition at the same stage last year, clearly set out to avoid defeat in the first leg and seemed content to limit their own attacking options to occasional breaks down the flanks and shots from distance.
With Anvarjon Soliev ploughing a lonely furrow up front on his own, this game was a a midfield war of attrition, with Pakhtakor's five-man unit stifling the creativity of the Seongnam's two Brazilian midfielders, Dudu and Marcelo.
Pakhtakor also came off better in the physical battle, their pressing and constant hassling together with their uncompromising tackling ensuring that the six-time Korean league champions were never able to settle.
In front of Korea national team coach Jo Bonfrere, the home side started brightly and won two early free-kicks in dangerous areas after Denis Laktionov had been crudely upended.
After weathering the early storm, the visitors began to settle and only twice in the reaminder of the half did the Koreans manage to get the ball behind Pakhtakor's three-man defence.
On 12 minutes, Laktionov broke down the right but his low cross towards Marcelo at the near post was hacked clear by Asror Aliqulov.
Twenty minutes later, Laktionov again found himself in space down the right but his cross, intended for Oh Seung-bum, was too close to Pakhtakor keeper Ignatiy Nesterov.
Seongnam coach Cha Kyung-bok wrung the changes at half-time, bringing on Shin Tae-yong and Kim Do-hoon for Seung and Marcelo.
The new arrivals helped raise the tempo and the home side tried to move the ball around with more pace and purpose, but their attacking game-plan came unstuck on 56 minutes when Lee Seong-woon was sent off for his second yellow card of the night.
The best chance of the game fell to Kim, who notched his 100th K-League goal at the weekend, but the 34-year-old's snap-shot on the turn from 10 yards out was denied by the woodwork.
Server Djeparov shot narrowly wide from 25 yards after 63 minutes and Leonid Koshelov hit the side netting from an acute angle late on.
Seongnam went in search of a unlikely winner in the last 10 minutes but they could not find the key to unlock the Pakhtakor defence.
At half-time in this two-leg semi-final, it is advantage Pakhtakor.