Soccer-The week in Asian football | Football News

By Michael Church

HONG KONG, – Talking points from the week in Asian football:

MELBOURNE DUO ADVANCE TO A-LEAGUE GRAND FINAL

Melbourne City will face Melbourne Victory in the A-League Grand Final after the cross-town rivals saw off Western United and Auckland FC in the semi-finals on Saturday.

Victory, trailing 1-0 from the first leg in Melbourne, claimed a 2-0 win in New Zealand thanks to goals from Zinedine Machach and Bruno Fornaroli, eliminating A-League Premiers Auckland 2-1 on aggregate.

City’s 1-1 home draw with Western United in the second leg completed a 4-1 aggregate win and took them into a third Grand Final in four years.

KASHIWA’S LEAD CUT TO THREE AFTER DEFEAT BY MARINOS

Kashima Antlers saw their J.League lead trimmed to three points on Sunday after they slipped to a 3-1 defeat by last-placed Yokohama F Marinos, with second-placed Kashiwa Reysol drawing 1-1 with Yokohama FC.

Yan Matheus struck twice as Marinos won for only the second time in the league this season, but they remain bottom of the standings and five points adrift of Albirex Niigata.

Kashiwa earned a point at Yokohama when Mao Hosoya cancelled out Musashi Suzuki’s opener for their hosts.

DAEJEON DOWN DAEGU TO OPEN UP TWO-POINT G IN K LEAGUE

Daejeon Citizen opened up a two-point lead in South Korea with a 2-1 win over Daegu FC on Saturday after second-placed Jeonbuk Motors were held 0-0 by Jeju FC a day earlier.

Joo Min-kyu gave Daejeon the lead from the penalty spot in the 23rd minute and Choi Geon-joo doubled the advantage 12 minutes after the restart.

Defending champions Ulsan HD remain in third, a further point adrift, after picking up a 3-2 win over Gimcheon Sangmu.

AL-HILAL BOOK ASIAN CHAMPIONS LEAGUE SPOT WITH AL-WEHDA DRAW

Al-Hilal drew 1-1 with Al-Wehda on Wednesday to confirm their runners-up finish behind Saudi Pro League champions Al-Ittihad with one round of matches remaining.

Sergej Milinkovic-Savic scored two minutes into stoppage time to cancel out Abdulaziz Noor’s 51st minute opener for the hosts. The point ensures Al-Hilal qualify for next season’s Asian Champions League Elite.

Al-Qadsiah face Al-Hilal in the final round of matches on Monday needing a win to be sure of claiming third place ahead of Cristiano Ronaldo’s Al-Nassr.

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