SAITAMA (Kyodo) Urawa Reds surrendered a costly late goal but held on to edge holders Chonbuk Motors of South Korea 2-1 in the first leg of the Asian Champions League quarterfinals on Wednesday.
Urawa Reds forward Tatsuya Tanaka is congratulated by Marcus Tulio Tanaka (4) after scoring a goal in the
first leg of the Asian Champions League quarterfinal match against South Korea's Chonbuk Motors on
Wednesday at Saitama Stadium. Reds won 2-1.
KYODO PHOTOMakoto Hasebe broke the deadlock after four minutes, yet despite completely dominating the first leg Urawa had to wait until just before the hour mark to extend the lead through live-wire striker Tatsuya Tanaka.
And the J. League champions were made to pay for a lapse in concentration late on as defender Choi Jin Cheul pounced to bag a crucial away goal in the 90th minute at Saitama Stadium 2002.
"We have won the first leg and it was a good performance," said Urawa coach Holger Osieck. "We made lots of chances and fully deserved to win."
"We conceded an away goal and obviously we are disappointed about that but we won. If we had won 2-0 then it is possible that the concentration might drop a bit in the next leg. This way we will be fully focused next week," said the German.
Chonbuk coach Cho Kang Hee said, "It was a tough game but that's nothing more than we expected. We have been in difficult situations in the past. I wouldn't have given up hope even if we had lost 2-0 tonight and we will do our best in the next leg."
