AFC Champions League Elite
Yuruki starred with a goal and an assist as Kobe swept past Shanghai with Yoshinori Muto, Yuya Kuwasaki and Yuya Osako also finding the net to confirm the Japanese side their place in the knockout stage.
#ACLElite | Vissel Kobe (JPN) 4 - 0 Shanghai Port FC (CHN)
“I’m glad we were able to win at home and qualify for the next stage. For the assist and the goal that I scored, the head coach instructed me to push forward into the box like we did in training,” said Yuruki.
“I’m relieved to score a goal and there were instances where I could have scored at least a few more and I will work hard to raise my level for the next game.”
Kobe, one up going into the break, turned up the tempo in the second half to overwhelm Shanghai with head coach Takayuki Yoshida praising his players’ attacking mindset.
“I’m glad we were able to get past the group stage. We played aggressively and scored the second and third goal and that led to breaking Shanghai’s momentum,” said Yoshida.
"I'm happy to win at home and it was great in terms of performance too, as we managed to do what we wanted to. We'll switch our attention and prepare well for the start of the J-League season this weekend."
Defeat left Shanghai eighth in the standings and the China PR side must win their final match against Yokohama F. Marinos next week to stand a chance of reaching the knockout stage.
“We played a very strong team and at this level we made some poor decisions that led directly to goals. However, I thought we were the better team,” said head coach Kevin Muscat.
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