Jubilo stay perfect with win

Jubilo Iwata kept their 100 per cent Asian Club Championship quarter-finals record intact with a 3-0 win over hosts PSM Makassar of Indonesia.

The win gives Jubilo top position in the group, setting up a semi-final clash with Irtysh Pavlodar of Kazakhstan in May, while Suwon Bluewings will face off against Iran’s Pirouzi.

This is the third season in a row Jubilo have reached the last four. In 1999 they emerged as champions, before going on to win the Asian Super Cup and qualify for this year’s FIFA Club World Championship, and last season they lost in the final to Saudi Arabia’s Al Hilal.

Jubilo went into their last quarter-final match without five of the side that defeated Shadong Luneng 6-2 on Friday, a result that guaranteed them a place in the semi-finals following their opening day 3-0 win over Suwon Bluewings.

Masashi Nakayama, Toshiya Fujita, Makoto Tanaka and Aleksander Zivkovic were all rested while Nobuo Kawaguchi was injured and the two-time J.League champions were disappointing as a result.

They created few scoring chances against a Makassar team that had conceded 11 goals in their previous two matches.

The Japanese only took the lead after a moment of suicidal miscommunication by the PSM defence eight minutes from the end of the first half.

Daisuke Oku’s through ball should have been shepherded to safety by Syamsuddin Batola. But a lack of understanding between the defender and goalkeeper Hendro Kartiko saw Batola steer the ball goalward, beyond the reach of the Indonesian national goalkeeper, under pressure from Naoki Naruo.

The Japanese striker sprung forward to capitalise on the mistake, sliding in to stab the ball over the line before Batola could make amends.

PSM tried to unsettled what was effectively Jubilo’s second team, having already come to Indonesia without internationals Hiroshi Nanami, Toshihide Hattori and Naohiro Takahara, currently in France, while defender Hideto Suzuki stayed in Japan.

Former FC Lucerne striker Kurniawan Dwi Yulianto was in mesmerising form, his twisting and turning tormenting the Jubilo defence.

Jubilo hit a second 11 minutes after the restart, Naruo turning provider and floating in a cross from the right that Tomoaki Seino, arriving late at the back post, headed home.

Makassar’s cause became even more desperate just before the hour mark when Cameroonian defender Joseph Lewono was sent off for a second bookable offence.

Takahiro Yamanishi claimed Jubilo’s third 16 minutes from time with a shot from the edge of the area that beat Kartiko to his left.

from AFC website