Soccer Football - AFC Champions League - Final - Second Leg - Urawa Red Diamonds v Al-Hilal - Saitama Stadium, Saitama, Japan - May 6, 2023 Urawa Red Diamonds' Hiroki Sakai and Shusaku Nishikawa and teammates celebrate with trophy on the podium after winning the AFC Champions League REUTERS/Issei Kato/File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsTOKYO, Aug 22 (Reuters) - Holders Urawa Red Diamonds booked their berth in the group stages of the Asian Champions League on Tuesday as Maciej Skorza's side defeated Hong Kong outfit Lee Man 3-0, but China's Shanghai Port were knocked out by BG Pathum United of Thailand.
Yoshio Koizumi gave Urawa the perfect start at Saitama Stadium with a second minute strike and Shinzo Koroki doubled the lead when he headed in Hiroki Sakai's cross from the right four minutes later.
Reds, who have won the title three times, will now feature in Thursday's group phase draw in Kuala Lumpur alongside BG Pathum United, Chinese Super League side Zhejiang FC and Incheon United of South Korea.
BG Pathum United advanced after a hat-trick by Igor Sergeyev saw the Thai side hand 2018 Chinese champions Shanghai Port a Igor Sergeyev 3-2 defeat.
The Uzbekistan international struck again in the 61st minute and, while Markus Pink netted with four minutes remaining to ensure a nervous finish for the visitors, BG Pathum United held on to advance.
Persons:
Hiroki Sakai, Shusaku Nishikawa, Issei Kato, Maciej Skorza's, Lee, Yoshio Koizumi, Shinzo Koroki, Hiroki Sakai's, Takahiro Sekine, Igor Sergeyev, Sergeyev, Mirahmetjan Muzepper, Markus Pink, Cheon Seong, Gerso, Franko Andrijasevic's, Michael Church
Organizations:
Soccer Football, AFC, League, Diamonds, Urawa, AFC Champions League REUTERS, Rights, Urawa Red Diamonds, Asian Champions League, Shanghai Port, BG Pathum United, Saitama, Reds, Super League, Zhejiang FC, Incheon United, Port, Uzbekistan, Pathum United, Vietnam's, Port FC, Michael, Michael Church Our, Thomson
Locations:
Hilal, Saitama, Japan, Hong Kong, Shanghai, Thailand, Urawa, Kuala Lumpur, South Korea, Thai, Vietnam's Haiphong, Zhejiang