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

MD6: Sanfrecce Hiroshima (JPN) 1-0 Shanghai Shenhua FC (CHN)

Hiroshima: Sanfrecce Hiroshima closed their final AFC Champions League Elite 2025/26™ match of the year with a 1-0 win over Shanghai Shenhua FC in an action-packed encounter at the Hiroshima Soccer Stadium on Wednesday.
Hayato Araki’s strike late in the second half gave Michael Skibbe’s side their second win in five fixtures and moved them up to nine points. China PR’s Shenhua, who are four points adrift, fell to their third consecutive defeat.
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Shenhua’s Andre Luís missed a glorious chance for the opening goal in the eighth minute when he skied the ball in a one-on-one encounter with keeper Keisuke Osako, who moments later bundled out Saulo Mineiro’s 20-yards shot.

It was then Sanfrecce’s Sota Nakamura’s turn to boot the ball over with only Bao Yaxiong in his way before Satoshi Tanaka’s swerving attempt from outside the area eight minutes later whizzed past the left post.
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The action swung to the other end in the 27th minute, Saulo Mineiro’s goalbound header over Bao was intercepted in time by defender Tsukasa Shiotani and Luis pouncing on the rebound only to find the right post in his way.

Bao came off his line in the 38th minute to rob Ryo Germain of the ball, with Daiki Suga’s follow-up towards an empty goalmouth headed away by Zhu Chenjie. The keeper then closed an entertaining half by tipping the ball to safety before it could reach Germain, who was waiting to head home into an unguarded net.
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Both sides continued their attacking display in the second half, with near-misses for Shehua’s Joao Teixeira and skipper Wu Xi and Bao making consecutive saves from Hayao Kawabe and Nakamura in the 56th minute before punching out Suga’s header.

Play continued to be punctuated with squandered opportunities until the 78th minute when, following a corner by Naoto Arai, Araki outjumped his marker and powered his close-range header past a stranded Bao.

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