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First off, let me take off my blue and white goggles and say: what was I thinking tipping Melbourne for the win? Seriously. Secondly, what a game! Four goals inside 25 minutes – three of them for Gamba – two penalties, beautiful football, a Brazilian. It had it all.
After what transpired yesterday with the North Queensland Fury fiasco, last night’s Asian Champions League match between Gamba Osaka and Melbourne Victory, which ended 5-1 in favour of the Japanese, highlighted the amount of work Melbourne, and A-League sides as a whole, need to do if it is indeed to be recognised as a genuine threat in Asia.
On a wet and quick pitch, Melbourne was outplayed for most of the match by their technically gifted opponents, with Gamba always looking a threat when in possession of the ball.
Poor defensive pressure, non-existent marking and ball watching were the hallmark of an ACL Melbourne loss, with the Victory never able to get into any sort of rhythm.
To be fair, Melbourne weren’t without their chances.
Danny Allsopp hit the post late in the first half and the Navy Blues had 10 shots to Gamba’s 17. But after going three goals down within 11 minutes, it was always going to be an uphill battle.
Add to that the fact that Melbourne’s passes rarely found their target and you have a recipe for disaster.
The first goal of the night came in the fourth minute of the game, and surprise, surprise, it was from a set piece, with Takuya Takei converting off a Yasuhito Endō corner.
Takei, who was waiting unmarked on the edge of the penalty box, was able to send his volley through a wall of white and past a sprawling Michael Petkovic.
Brazilian Adriano then scored his first goal for Gamba since switching from Cerezo Osaka from the penalty spot in the 7th minute after Kevin Muscat was judged to have fouled Korean Lee Keun-Ho inside the penalty area. And the Brazilian converted the spot kick without hesitation after having to re-take it due to encroachment.
In the 11th minute, Gamba’s third goal was a result of more poor defending, as Endō played Adriano down the right wing and the Brazilian was just allowed to casually stroll towards the box before putting his ball in for a rampaging Lee Keun-Ho to slot the ball past Petkovic.
Adriano was given far too much time and space by Matthew Kemp, who should have jockeyed his Brazilian opponent into the corner flag rather than turn his back on the striker and allow him to send a ball into the penalty area for a goal.
Melbourne Victory got a goal back in the 22nd minute as Kevin Muscat made up for his earlier indiscretion when he converted a penalty which was won when Archie Thompson was fouled in the penalty area by Takumi Shimohira, who was lucky not to see red as he was the last defender.
The second half started with Gamba creating numerous opportunities, and the Japanese outfit dominated possession, suffocating Melbourne and cutting of any space that the Navy Blues tried to create.
Gamba’s pressure was so immense that Melbourne looked uncomfortable in possession for the opening ten minutes of the second half.
Adriano again turned creator in the 63rd minute when he mesmerised the Melbourne defence, sending them left and right with his trickery before laying off the ball to Takahiro Futagawa, who had the time and space inside the penalty area to have one touch before smashing the ball past Petkovic and into the back of the net for a deserved goal.
Melbourne’s defence was again embarrassed in stoppage time when Lee Keun-Ho found an unmarked Kenta Hoshihara on the back post and the striker was able to send his looping header over Petkovic for Gamba’s fifth and final goal.
For the majority of the game, Melbourne was made to look like the side that was coming off pre-season, with Gamba putting on a football workshop at the Osaka Expo 70 Stadium.
The Japanese were technically superior to Melbourne. Their passes hit their targets, they opened space, they were creative, and they were patient.
Gamba played ‘joga bonito’ as if it was their own, and they showed Melbourne, and the A-League as a whole, why the J-League is the benchmark in Asian football at this point in time.
It got to the point where you didn’t mind that your team was being dissected and made to look like amateurs – you were watching a team playing football the way it was intended to be played.
FFA take note: stop wasting your money on expansion. More money needs to be spent domestically improving grass roots football so that we are one day able to replicate the J-League and produce our own technically gifted players from the bottom up.
Incoming Melbourne CEO Anthony Di Pietro recently stated that Melbourne is looking to increase its brand awareness in Asia. If that’s the case, Melbourne really needs to start taking the ACL more seriously because it is a prestigious tournament and at the moment Melbourne aren’t giving it the respect it deserves.
How do you brand a 5-1 loss?
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