Late Watanabe strike earns Marinos ACL advantage

YOKOHAMA: Kota Watanabe earned Yokohama F Marinos a late 2-1 win over Al-Ain of the United Arab Emirates in the first leg of the Asian Champions League final on Saturday, securing a slender advantage for Harry Kewell's side ahead of the return game.

Mohammed Abbas put Al-Ain in front in the 12th minute but goals in the final 18 minutes from Asahi Uenaka and Watanabe saw turn the game around for the Japanese late in the second half. "I give my players credit, they worked hard all game," said Kewell.

"They drove Al-Ain into the ground with their passing and movement. We couldn't get that goal at the start, but we kept our discipline and commitment and we got our reward in the end.

"I'm happy at this moment, but I know in this game it can be taken away from you so quickly."

Abbas' goal gave Al-Ain the lead 12 minutes into the game when he reacted quickest to a rebound after Soufiane Rahimi's shot was saved by Marinos goalkeeper William Popp.

Rahimi, the tournament's leading scorer, had caught out defender Carlos Eduardo to bear down on Popp but, although the goalkeeper denied the Moroccan, Abbas was on hand to net.

The visitors were denied a second on the half hour when an error by Popp allowed Matias Palacios' shot to slip over the line, but the Marinos were given a reprieve when the strike was ruled out for offside after a VAR review.

Those, however, were rare sights of goal for an Al-Ain side who played largely on the counter-attack and invited Marinos to find a way through.

Goalkeeper Khalid Eisa made several saves to keep Kewell's team at bay, including one from Takuya Kida in which the ball spin up onto the crossbar before bouncing wide for a corner.

Marinos broke through with 18 minutes remaining, Uenaka powering Yan Matheus' inswinging cross from the right beyond the helpless Eisa and, 12 minutes later, the hosts went in front. Matheus again delivered a telling cross from the right, with Ryo Miyaichi firing the ball across goal for Watanabe to strike.

The teams meet again in the UAE on May 25 with the winners taking Asia's last remaining berth at the FIFA Club World Cup in the United States next year.