“The match began in difficult circumstances but I think the players showed all they have, including the team approach that we have been building since the training camp,” said the 53-year-old Hasebe.

“This was a great win for us, as it means we can move on to the next stage with this result.”

Shin Yamada got the ball rolling for Frontale with his 38th minute header before Pohang went down to 10 men following Jonathan Aspropotamitis’ sending off late in the first half.

The forward then produced a perfect lay-off for Yasuto Wakizaka to increase Frontale’s lead in the 70th minute, highlighting the team’s development under their new head coach.

“We've started with a new system now, and the team is working together as one,” said Yamada. “I hope we can all fight together, including the supporters, in the league and the ACL.”

As for Pohang, the defeat kept them on nine points with qualification to the knockout stage now hanging on their match against Johor Darul Ta’zim in a week’s time, with head coach Park Tae-ha vowing to make improvements ahead of the trip to Malaysia.

“We started 2025 at home, but we showed a really disappointing performance to the fans. I won’t make excuses, it was a crushing defeat,” said Park. “There were concerns after winning the Korea Cup last year. We may have overestimated ourselves. 

“I will calmly look back on the Kawasaki match with the players and try to prepare well for the opening match of the K League 1 and next week's match in Malaysia.”