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Adelaide slip to ACL extra time defeat

Roar Pro
12th May, 2010
2

Adelaide United’s AFC Champions League campaign has ended at the hands of Joenbuk Motors in extra-time. The South Korean Champions won 3-2 after a thrilling encounter at Hindmarsh Stadium.

Former Middlesborough striker Lee Dong Gook, who topped the K-League scoring charts last season, delivered the killer blow with a header in the 116th minute after United had equalised twice in normal time.

Lee’s near post header sealed the win and eliminated the 2008 finalists from the round of 16 in front of 12,015 fans.

Brazilian playmaker Eninho netted in the 38th and 87th minutes either side of Robbie Cornthwaite’s powerful 74th-minute header, before Sergio van Dijk netted a dramatic equaliser in the 94th minute to send the game into extra time.

The 2006 AFC champions looked the more likely side to score late in the extra period with Eugene Galekovic pulling off two smart saves.

He was then left helpless as Lee slipped away from the attentions of Cassio to nod home from close range with a downward header that sneaked inside the near post.

Eninho opened the scoring with a scrappy goal that he somehow miscued into the roof of the net following some poor defending from the home side.

Adelaide tried to fight back to break its barren spell of not scoring in three matches but Suntae parried a 20-metre drive from Fabian Barbiero in the 39th minute and then watched captain Travis Dodd miss a point-blank volley from a Cassio cross in the 44th minute.

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Aurelio Vidmar’s side stepped up the pressure after the interval and defender Daniel Mullen forced Suntae to parry his volley in the 48th minute.

However, Adelaide’s persistence paid off when defender Cornthwaite rose highest to head home a Cassio corner 16 minutes from time.

But Joenbuk hit back in the emphatic fashion when Eninho was given space and time by the Reds’ defence, and he crashed home a brilliant curling effort from the edge of the box.

But Adelaide refused to lie down, and with all 11 players in the box for the corner, including Galekovic, Van Dijk prodded the ball home from close range to drive the home supporters wild.

Cassio rattled the Jeonbuk crossbar with a free-kick early in extra time but Lee applied an expert finish.

Adelaide’s ACL head coach Joe Mullen said his players had given everything and shown great character to come back twice from behind.

“They did their club, the A-League and Australia proud tonight,” he said.

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“I thought we had more of the clear cut chances but didn’t take them.

“It’s hard to take.”
Mullen said he knew there were two or three players suffering from cramps or other ailments going into extra time.

“But we’d made our subs and we just had to deal with it,” he said.

Joenbuk coach Choi Kanghee conceded his side were thinking about penalties after Lee Dong Gook had hit the crossbar just two minutes before netting the winner.

“Both teams showed all their skills today,” he said.

“But it was a very tough game. We prepared well and played the way we wanted to play.”

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