Asian Champions League: defending champions Urawa Red Diamonds hand Lee Man a harsh lesson
- Early two-goal salvo sets the Japanese side on their way to a convincing victory
- Hong Kong’s Lee Man shown yawning gap to bridge to the continent’s best as they are denied place in Thursday’s draw for 40-team group phase
Lee Man were given a stark introduction to the standards at the summit of Asian football as last year’s Hong Kong Premier League runners-up were handed a convincing 3-0 defeat by Urawa Red Diamonds, any hope of a place in the Asian Champions League being rapidly extinguished.
Two goals in the first six minutes at Saitama Stadium sent Urawa – the defending champions after winning the title in May – on their way to a place in Thursday’s draw for the 40-team group phase while Lee Man were left to consider the yawning gulf between the sides.
Yoshio Koizumi and Shinzo Koroki struck early to put an Urawa side missing several of their first-choice selections in command and Maciej Skorza’s side barely needed to operate beyond strolling pace to see off the challenge of Tsang Chiu-tat’s side.
“We took maybe a bit long to get into the game,” Lee Man’s assistant coach Jordi Tarres said. “I think [during] the first 10 minutes we [could not] match the pace of the game. Also we made some mistakes, but we expected that because of Urawa, because of their quality.
“But honestly I wouldn’t say that was a bad performance from us. We were [facing] the current champions of ACL, so I think it’s not bad from our side and it’s also our second official game of the season.”
Koizumi gave Urawa the ideal start in the second minute of what could have been a tricky fixture for a team that has been struggling recently for form. He was left unmarked to side-foot home Tomoaki Okubo’s cut-back.
