Two ASEAN Club Championship Shopee Cup™ teams were in action in the Asian Football Confederation club competitions this week and both are through to the next stage in their respective tournaments after keeping up their good form in Asia.
While Thailand’s Buriram United held Gwangju FC to a draw to reach the knockout stage of the AFC Champions League Elite, Lion City Sailors FC of Singapore registered a 4-0 victory over Muangthong United to book their place in the AFC Champions League Two quarter-finals.
Join ASEAN United FC as we take a look at how the two clubs maintained their impressive run in the continental competitions this week.
Draw enough for Buriram to make last 16
First-half goals from Guilherme Bissoli and Martin Boakye helped Buriram United hold Korea Republic’s Gwangju FC to a 2-2 draw in their final league phase fixture at Gwangju World Cup Stadium on Tuesday and book a place in the 2024/25 AFC Champions League Elite last 16.
A win against two-time Asian champions Ulsan HD FC in the penultimate fixture meant that the Thai champions only needed a point to progress and they did exactly so, as they wrapped up their league phase campaign with three wins, three draws and two defeats to finish sixth in the 12-team table.
Bissoli opened the scoring for Buriram in the 13th minute as he turned home a Suphanat Mueanta cross before the Brazilian forward turned provider for Boakye in the 35th minute to double the visitors’ lead against Gwangju, who were already assured of a place in the next stage.
Oh Hoo-sung struck twice in the second half to rescue a point for the Koreans, but that did not stop Osmar Loss’ side from securing a last-16 berth in Asia’s premier club competition for the first time since 2018.
Buriram will now face Malaysia’s Johor Darul Ta’zim FC in the two-legged last-16 tie to be played next month.
Sailors dominant in defeat of Muangthong
Lion City Sailors posted a commanding 4-0 victory over Thailand’s Muangthong United in the home leg of their AFC Champions League Two last-16 clash to complete a 7-2 aggregate victory and confirm their place in the quarter-finals of the competition.
Muangthong had scored twice in the second half from 3-0 down in the first leg to keep the tie alive but Sailors settled their nerves early as a penalty, awarded only 15 seconds after kick-off, was slotted home by Maxime Lestienne to give them a 1-0 lead on the night and 4-2 lead on aggregate.
Bart Ramselaar then doubled their lead in first-half stoppage time before Shawal Anuar’s brace after the restart gave Aleksandar Rankovic’s side a big victory at Jalan Besar Stadium.
The Singapore Premier League club will now face Japan’s Sanfrecce Hiroshima in the last-eight tie, with the first leg to be held on 5 March at Edion Peace Wing Hiroshima followed by the return leg in Singapore a week later.
Photos: Buriram United and Lion City Sailors FC
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