Kobe and Kawasaki seal their advancement to the Asian Champions League’s round of 16

Japanese champions Vissel Kobe defeated China’s Shanghai Port 4-0 on Tuesday to secure their spot in the Asian Champions League Elite knockout stages, while their countrymen Kawasaki Frontale reaffirmed their advancement to the round of 16.

With one set of games left, Kawasaki easily defeated the 10-man hosts Pohang Steelers 4-0 in South Korea to secure their spot in the next phase.

Yokohama F Marinos, who are third in the 12-team rankings and play on Wednesday, are also eliminated as a result of Tuesday’s results, but South Korea’s Gwangju FC will progress despite their 3-1 loss to Shandong Taishan of the Chinese Super League.

Meanwhile, Malaysia’s Johor Darul Ta’zim defeated Australia’s Central Coast Mariners 2-1 to maintain their hopes of qualifying.

Matches in the knockout phase are scheduled for March, and the top eight finishers in the league phase in both east and west Asia advance to the round of 16. After that, teams will go to Saudi Arabia for centralized finals in April and May.

After a turbulent return to Japan with the Chinese Super League winners, former Yokohama F Marinos manager Kevin Muscat gave Kobe the ideal start against Shanghai Port with a goal in the eleventh minute.

Nine minutes after halftime, Yuya Kuwasaki scored the second goal with a shot that struck the underside of the crossbar, and Koya Yuruki completed a sharp counterattack little over a minute later to give Kobe the third.

Yan Junling stopped Osako’s penalty in the 78th minute, but three minutes later, the former Japan striker scored his team’s fourth goal with a crucial first-time header after Takahiro Ohgihara’s free kick.

With the victory, Kobe maintains his lead with 16 points from seven games, one point ahead of Kawasaki in second place. Meanwhile, Yokohama F Marinos, in third place, have 13 points and are certain of finishing in the top eight going into Wednesday’s matchup with Shanghai Shenhua.

Shin Yamada’s header in the 38th minute gave Kawasaki the lead over Pohang, while Jonathan Aspropotamitis was sent off for a second bookable offence. Kawasaki advanced thanks to late goals from Yasuto Wakizaka, So Kawahara, and Erison.

JDT also took advantage of undermanned opponents, defeating Central Coast 2-1 after Alvaro Gonzalez scored twice to put his team in fifth place and goalie Dylan Peraic-Cullen was sent off for a foul on Arif Aiman late in the first half.

With goals from Valeri Qazaishvili, Zeca, and Cryzan in the first half, Shandong easily defeated Gwangju, earning the points that moved the Chinese team up to sixth place.