AFC Champions League Elite - Araki delivers as Sanfrecce give Skibbe winning farewell

Hiroshima: Hayato Araki was pleased to play his part to give outgoing head coach Michael Skibbe a winning farewell after the defender scored the solitary goal in Sanfrecce Hiroshima’s 1-0 win against Shanghai Shenhua FC in their AFC Champions League Elite 2025/26™ match on Tuesday.

Araki rose highest in the 78th minute to thump home a corner from Naoto Araki to give Sanfrecce the third win of their first continental top tier campaign since 2019.

#ACLElite | Sanfrecce Hiroshima (JPN) 1-0 Shanghai Shenhua FC (CHN)

“I’m glad that in our final match of the season and also Skibbe’s final match in charge – we were able to take a solid win,” said Araki. “In terms of our performance as well, I feel we were able to play the kind of football we’ve been striving for.

“We really fought as a team throughout the season. When it comes to set-pieces, the team kept delivering so many balls to me, and thanks to that, I think I was able to increase my scoring tally.”

Skibbe, who was appointed in February 2022 and is taking charge of Vissel Kobe next season, will leave with Sanfrecce in a prime position to qualify for the Round of 16 after the win took them to 11 points.

“I’m very happy that we won our final match of the season. It was quite difficult because Shenhua were very strong on the counter-attack,” said Skibbe. “They have very fast players in the attacking positions and even in the first half, they created two or three very good chances.

“But as the match went on, we improved. We played better and better, created many opportunities and although it took a long time before we finally scored, we kept pushing.

“In the end, it’s a very good feeling to win this match against Shenhua. It was a tough game and we’re very happy to put ourselves in a strong position in the group stage.”

As for Shenhua head coach Leonid Slutskiy, the result was disappointing as he felt his team had their fair amount of chances to score but just could not find the finishing touch.

“It was a very evenly matched game,” said Slutskiy. “Unfortunately, we didn’t convert several clear chances and we were unlucky with the final shot.

“In such a balanced match, sometimes everything comes down to one set-piece or one mistake and unfortunately, we made that mistake.

“In terms of the quality of play, I’m satisfied with how the team performed but of course, I’m very disappointed with the final result.”

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