[AFC] Gamba Osaka (JPN) vs. Melbourne Victory (AUS) - Match Thread
Gamba Osaka (JPN) 1 vs. 1 Melbourne Victory (AUS)
Venue: Suita City Football Stadium, Osaka
Referee: Ahmed Abu Bakar Said Al Kaf (Oman)
Line Ups: click here
Gamba Osaka: Hiashiguchi, Fujiharu, Kim Jung-ya, Endo (c), Kurata, Abe, Konno, Ideguchi, Oh Jae-Suk, Patric, Usami
Melbourne Victory: Ingham, Berisha, Barbarouses - Bozanic, Thompson, Broxham (c) - Galloway, Delpierre, Ansell, Geria - Vukovic (Subs: Thomas, Georgievsky, Pain, Mahazi, Howard, Makarounas, Deng)
Pre Match Commentary
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Teammates at TSG Hoffenheim in 2012, 2013 - Delpierre and Usami are on opposing sides tonight. Usami claims to know him "even better than the other players" who were there, and to have some special tricks up his sleeve for tonight
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This will be the first ACL game played in our beautiful new stadium says Gamba Osaka fan u/papipupepole
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Gamba Osaka lost their league opener on Sunday, so they'll be hoping to bounce back tonight with a win against MVFC. They rested some key attackers in that game, so it seems ACL is at the fore of their managers priorities. (/u/papipupepole)
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J.League fan u/papipupepole has given us a run down on some of the Gamba Osaka players: Endo - captain, and controlling midfielder. Most Japan caps ever. Usami - Ace Striker. Patric - Brazilian striker, can shoot, pass, head and run.
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Talking Point: Jai Ingham opened the scoring on his debut last week. Lucky? Can he continue the form?
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Stadium looks great. Boys look up to it, albeit a little overwhelmed.
Match Commentary
00:00 - Stadium looks great. Would Gamba Osaka ever fill that up?
01:00 - Gamba Osaka applying a somewhat high press, not letting us play out from the back.
03:00 - GOAL!! > Melbourne Victory getting the early goal from the corner, looks as though Ansell manages to get a knee to it and forces an own goal. Gamba Osaka 0 - 1 Melbourne Victory
05:30 - CHANCE: Gamba Osaka - Patric gets a shot off and it takes a deflection but the official is blind and it's a goal kick for Victory.
09:00 - A few runs forward from either side, but Victory conceding most of the ground and playing it around the back.
10:00 - Jai Ingham cuts inside, gets a good pass through to Berisha. Good turn and swivel but not enough on the end of it - easy save.
13:00 - Gamba Osaka just carefully prodding around, looking for an opening. Very cool calm and collected from the home side.
15:00 - CHANCE: Melbourne Victory - Ingham getting another good ball into Berisha who's miss kicked again and it's bounced 3 times before it gets to the keeper. Ingham definitely not shying away from it, and turning up to the big game.
20:00 - Patric and Bozanic hug it out by the looks. Patric unhappy that he's getting man-marked by Bozanic
27:00 - Without Finkler, I don't think we know how to take free kicks. Makes you miss a specialist like that.
28:00 - Bozanic kicking it straight to the keeper this time. All our shots straight to the keeper. :(
31:00 - CHANCE - Gamba Osaka - Very unlucky not to at least get a foot to a scrap in the box then, ball bounces out to the end of the 18' and then a strike down low gets stopped by Vuka.
34:00 - CHANCE - Gamba Osaka - Some nice tight passing gets them a shot on goal that goes just wide.
35:00 - YELLOW CARD - Kosta Barbarouses for time wasting. 3 times apparently.
45:00 - Quiet for a bit. YELLOW CARD picked up by Jai Ingham for a late tackle.
HALF TIME -- GAMBA OSAKA 0 - 1 MELBOURNE VICTORY
Half-Time Commentary
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Muscat looks happy. That's good. You won't like him when he's angry.
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[Some photos from Osaka taken by our Japanese correspondent u/papipupepole](http://imgur.com/a/aG9lO)
Second Half Commentary
47:00 - CHANCE - Gamba Osaka - Victory lose the ball and it lands to Patric who puts it over the bar.
50:00 - Gamba Osaka fans voice their displeasure over MVFC passing around about 25 times before they lost possession.
51:00 - Bozanic is down and looks to have taken a shoulder to the head. Medical staff have come on and he's getting some treatment with the magic water.
54:00 - CHANCE - Gamba Osaka - Patric gets another shot on goal from about 25 yards out - without a touch from Vuka that would probably have went in. Bounces off the cross bar and gets cleared by Victory defenders. (#shadesoflangerak - courtesy of u/fuckupsomecommaz)
56:00 - GOAL - Gamba Osaka manage to get a good corner in, from a short routine, all the way to the back post to someone who's unmarked. Free header nice and low. Questions to be asked about Victory defenders. GAMBA OSAKA 1 - 1 MELBOURNE VICTORY
59:00 - CHANCE - Gamba Osaka - Victory defence just non-existant at the moment and Gamba are running wild. Another chance that they will be kicking themselves - should have been put away.
60:00 - INJURY - Oliver Bozanic will be coming off and will be replaced by Mahazi.
65:00 - CHANCE - Gamba Osaka - Another shot from outside the 18 that heads over the bar. Victory playing very defensive now and holding possession while passing around the back.
68:00 - We've witnessed a great run from Barbarouses showing his worth, and we've seen why Thompson probably won't play on for another season.
74:00 - OPINION - If it's one thing that I'm really happy with, is our ability to play out from the back regardless of the pressure we're under. Geria, Ansell, these guys are going to be great with all this experience working with Delpierre.
76:00 - SUBSTITUTION - Berisha OFF, Makarounas ON and Thompson will move up forward. Interesting by KM.
80:00 - CHANCE - Gamba Osaka - Thank your fucking lucky stars. Patric with a bullet header from a set piece and holy shit, that would have been in if it was lower. Very very lucky for Victory fans.
89:00 - CHANCE - Gamba Osaka - HOLY BLOODY HECK. Victory caught fucking napping at the back and Vuka comes out sized up like a brick shithouse and makes the clutch save.
** FULL TIME - GAMBA OSAKA 1 - 1 MELBOURNE VICTORY **
Post-match thoughts/talking points:
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Substitutes: Does Muscat use them at the right times? Is there a point in running our team to the ground and then making a sub when Pain can only run to the other side of the field before the game is over?
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Tactics: We really, really struggle to score goals when away from home. What are we doing wrong?
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Delpierre: Holy shit, this guy is our defense. I hope he can keep active in both HAL and AFC.
Posted Mar 2, 2016, 9:26 AM UTC · edited