Central Coast Mariners face an uphill struggle to qualify for the latter stages of the Asian Champions League after they surrendered an early advantage to lose 3-1 to Kashiwa Reysol in Japan on Tuesday.
The Mariners took an eighth-minute lead at the Kashiwa Soccer Stadium in Chiba when the unmarked Patrick Zwaanswijk met a corner with an unstoppable header, but Leandro Domingues slipped a first-time finish under goalkeeper Mat Ryan to equalise just 13 minutes later.
Domingues then set up Kenta Kano midway through the second half and volleyed in a late third to leave the Mariners, who missed their fifth straight penalty in the 90th minute, with a single point from two Group H matches, five fewer than their table-topping opponent.
After an opening 0-0 draw with Suwong Bluewings, the result leaves the April 3 game against China’s Guizhou Renhe looking distinctly like a must-win encounter for Graham Arnold’s men.
At least the Mariners won’t have to contend with Domingues, the J-League’s player of the year in 2011.
“The only difference was their No.10, Domingues,” Arnold said.
“He’s total quality. His first finish was a great finish. We gave away two balls for two cheap goals and that’s international football: you give away cheap possession like that, you get punished.
“The third goal from them was absolutely world-class from Domingues. He was totally the difference between the two teams.”
Just days after questioning the commitment of his senior players following a 2-0 A-League defeat to Sydney FC, Arnold said he was happy with the effort shown by a callow starting XI featuring seven players aged 22 or younger.
He was less impressed with Michael McGlinchey’s missed penalty, especially since the substitute shouldn’t even have been near the kick.
“It’s not the first time that the penalty taker was meant to take it and someone else has taken the ball and the penalty taker has walked away. It’s driving me insane,” Arnold said.
“Patrick (Zwaanswijk) was meant to take it but he stopped halfway so I have to ask him the question why he didn’t go all the way.
“It’s something that’s extremely frustrating because when you get down to these type of tournaments goal difference is enormous and 3-2 instead of 3-1 could be the difference between qualifying and not qualifying.”
Zwaanswijk’s header briefly put the Mariners in the ascendancy but Kashiwa Reysol had a good shout for a penalty with Kano seemingly having his heels clipped as he bore down on goal before equalising through Domingues.
The Mariners only had themselves to blame as captain John Hutchinson gave away possession in midfield.
Hiroyuki Taniguchi gratefully accepted the gift and split the visiting defence with a low pass that the Brazilian Domingues neatly tucked away.
Arnold showed his eagerness for all three points when he sent on McGlinchey for the tiring Adriano Pellegrino for the last half hour but instead watched Kano flick Domingues’ deep cross adroitly past Ryan with the outside of his boot.
Domingues then fired in an 88th-minute volley to settle any nerves before McGlinchey joined the list of unlucky Mariners penalty takers when goalkeeper Takanori Sugeno blocked his driven spot kick.
The Mariners created few clear chances despite looking comfortable for long spells and ended the match with fitness concerns over midfielder Anthony Caceres, who had to be replaced after turning his ankle.
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