AFC Champions League Elite - Slutsky lauds focused Shanghai Shenhua, Kawasaki Frontale’s Oniki seeks improvements

Shanghai: Shanghai Shenhua head coach Leonid Slutsky was pleased with his side for maximising their one-man advantage in the 2-0 win over Kawasaki Frontale in their AFC Champions League Elite™ 2024/25 tie on Wednesday.

The Japanese side were reduced to 10 players following Marcinho’s sending off in the fifth minute with Shenhua taking the lead through Wang Haijian in the 24th minute. Andre Luis then struck a late penalty as the China PR side returned to winning ways after having been defeated by Johor Darul Ta’zim on Matchday Two.

#ACLElite | Shanghai Shenhua FC (CHN) 2 - 0 Kawasaki Frontale (JPN)

“The red card was the turning point in the game. They (Kawasaki) were down by one man and this allowed us to control the game and win the match,” said Slutsky.

“Our target is to qualify into the next round, we have played three games and we have had to adapt accordingly but in any case, our goal is the same and we will always find a way to get the win.”

The Russian tactician was also pleased with his squad’s ability to adapt to his second half adjustments.

“We try to find a balance in each game and after 60 minutes, we made some changes and that brought a positive impact to our game and led to the late second goal.”

The win took Shenhua to fourth in the standings on six points, with Kawasaki three adrift in 10th place with only the top eight teams advancing to the knockout stage.

Kawasaki head coach Toru Oniki commended his team for fighting on even when they were a man down.

“It was a difficult game, we lost a player in the initial stages. We wanted to get at least a point but unfortunately we didn’t in the end. However, the players showed great attitude even after conceding the opening goal,” said Oniki.

“We tried to change our tactics when playing with a man down. We also changed the way we played in the second half a couple of times. I felt we were playing better but Shanghai Shenhua scored their second goal at the very end.

“We will need to analyse what we did wrong and improve in the next match. We also need to increase our shot-making in the attacking third.”

Slutsky lauds focused Shanghai Shenhua, Kawasaki Frontale’s Oniki seeks improvements

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