Jeonbuk Motors have advanced to the quarter final stage of the AFC Champions League, after a 2-1 win in Jeongju against Melbourne Victory.
Goals either side of half time to Brazilian import Leonardo condemned the A-League outfit to elimination from the competition. Besart Berisha’s late effort forced a grandstand finish, but ultimately it was a matter of too little, too late.
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ACL – What We Learned – Jeonbuk Hyundai 2 Melbourne Victory 1
Melbourne Victory
Lawrence Thomas (GK) – 6: Should have done better with Leonardo’s first, but recovered well.
Jason Geria – 6: Skinned and gave away a silly foul which led to Leonardo’s winning goal. Bombed forward effectively in the second half.
Nick Ansell – 6: Might have opened the scoring midway through the first half but shot wide. Solid enough defensively.
Matthieu Delpierre – 6: Made a few uncharacteristic errors but could not be faulted for either goal.
Daniel Georgievski – 5: Offered little going forward. Booked on 35 minutes for a cynical foul.
Leigh Broxham – 6: As always, tried his heart out. Wasn’t enough to keep out the incessant Jeonbuk attack.
Carl Valeri – 8: Protected the back four with aplomb and was the catalyst for an ultimately unsuccessful late charge.
Oliver Bozanic – 7: Very tidy early, and kept things ticking over in midfield under great duress from the high quality Jeonbuk midfield.
Kosta Barbarouses – 6: Lacked quality in his final match for the club but was extremely unlucky to hit the upright on 79 minutes.
Besart Berisha – 8: Held the play up well but was wasteful at times. However, showed immense desire and was rewarded for his efforts with a late, tidy finish.
Archie Thompson – 6: Emotional night. Squandered an early chance and that was as good as it got for the departing Melbourne Victory legend.
Substitutes
Jai Ingham – 6: Helped to inject life into his side despite not really impacting the match directly.
Jesse Makarounas – 6: Busy in place of Broxham – like Ingham, he helped to make things nervy for the hosts.
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