In the first round of the East Asian Championship, Shandong Taishan defeated Australian Premier League champions Central Coast Mariners 3-1 at home. Bi Jinhao was the first to break the deadlock, and although the opponents equalized, Kazaishvili then scored twice to secure Shandong Taishan's final victory. Facing possible heavy penalties, Shandong Taishan are eager to prove themselves in the Asian competition.
Meanwhile, Kobe Victory have been making a lot of moves in the transfer market, signing two Brazilian foreigners, Patrick and Tulle. They also boast former members of the Japan national team such as Isao Osako, Kaki Muto, Firefly Yamaguchi and Takade Sakai. This team won the Japanese J-League title for the first time in 2023 and are currently second in the table this season.
However, in the first round of the AFC Elite League's East Asia Division, Kobe Victory FC failed to achieve the desired result as they played out a 0-0 draw away from home against Buriram United of the Thai Premier League. In order to get out of the group stage, Kobe Victory will have to try to win three points at Villa Namcha in the upcoming matches.
Sadly, both Chinese Super League (CSL) teams suffered 0-3 defeats away from home in last night's AFC Elite League East Asia second round matches. Shanghai Seaport were defeated by South Korea's traditional powerhouse Pohang Ironmen, while Shanghai Shenhua lost to Malaysian Super League champions Johor Bahru, who have many foreign and naturalized players.
In the next match, Shandong Taishan will challenge Kobe Victory ship on the road, whether it can continue the momentum of victory and realize two consecutive wins, will undoubtedly become the focus.
