Asian Champions League 2010

Reds on track with away draw
by BOTN

Group H - Round 4 - 2nd Leg
7:00pm, Tuesday 13 April, 2010
at The Steelyard, Pohang


Pohang Steelers FC 0
drew with
Adelaide United FC 0


Adelaide United continued their good away record, able to come back from Korea with a point after a scrappy 0-0 draw with a profligate Pohang Steelers at the Steelyard tonight. The result assures them of a place in the final 16.

In slippery and blustery conditions, it was all the home side in the first 15 minutes as United’s defence found itself under siege, Brazilian Almir the chief instigator of the Steelers’ chances but they could not steer their efforts on target.

Almir and fellow Brazilian Mota were posing problems for the Reds and on the half hour they combined but Galekovic was awake to the threat as he caused Mota to dive theatrically over him in the hope of winning a penalty as he was through on goal, but it was to no avail.

United’s most threatening build up of the opening 45 minutes came when Mullen found some rare space out wide on the right before sending a tantalising cross in behind the Pohang defence, but there were no takers for the Reds to make the most of the chance.

The Steelers continued to dominate, manufacturing 10 shots in the opening half to United’s solitary attempt, Scott Jamieson and Pantelis finding themselves going into the referee’s book just before half time as it was predominantly one way traffic in the opening 45 minutes.

A more composed United outfit reappeared after the break as Sergio van Dijk continued to play a lone role up front, but it was still the home side that seemed the more likely to break the deadlock.

Almir sent a header over the bar from a free kick in the 58th minute before Shin Hyung-min was denied soon after as his shot found Galekovic’s left post.

Mathew Leckie was introduced just after the hour mark, but despite some promising build ups, neither he nor his teammates could find a way through Pohang’s defence.

With time ticking away, the game continued to be a case of whether the Reds could keep Pohang at bay to the final whistle. Although there were a few more hair-raising moments for United to deal with late on, the 2008 ACL finalists held on to progress past the AFC Champions League Group Stage for the second time in three attempts.

Pohang travel to Japan to face Sanfrecce Hiroshima in their final group game while Adelaide are at home to Chinese side Shandong Luneng. "It was a difficult game, as I expected,” said Lemos. “We had many chances but wasted all of them. “We dominated the first half as well as the second half but it does not have much meaning if we cannot score. "Our performance itself was good but we just needed to score.”

Adelaide caretaker coach Joe Mullen conceded his side was lucky to leave Korea with a point after rarely threatening throughout the match. "Pohang's first half was incredibly good but we defended quite well,” he said. “We tried to do something in the second half and it came out a lot better. We had only few chances so it is good to come away with a point." The result also means Adelaide have not been defeated by Pohang in their last four meeting in the AFC Champions League. "All I know is Pohang are a very good team,” he added.

While the point secured both sides’ place in the last 16, it leaves the Reds favourites to snatch first place and with it home advantage in the next stage. Their final Group Stage match is against Shandong Luneng at Hindmarsh Stadium on Tuesday April 27, 2010. Lucas Pantelis, Daniel Mullen, and Adam Hughes will all be unavailable for the match after they each received their second yellow card of the competition.

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