ACL Semi-Final Evenly Poised After 0-0 First Leg

An enthralling Asian Champions League Semi-Final contest between Seoul & the Western Sydney Wanderers finished 0-0 tonight.

The scoreless draw sees the equation for the return leg at Parramatta a simple one. For Seoul, any score draw or a win will see them through to the final, while the Wanderers will progress with any victory, while penalties loom large should the 0-0 scoreline repeat in Sydney.

The visiting Wanderers had the better of the opening stages, Labinot Haliti, who was replacing the suspended Tomi Juric up-front had a surging run in the 7th minute, despite being drawn wide he fired a shot in that Sang-Hun Yun was able to comfortably handle. Seoul were content to absorb early pressure and hit on the counter and with the Wanderers failing to find the right passes, the Koreans hit back with several chances on the quarter hour.

The first was a goalmouth scramble after Koh escaped a raft of attention, the ball bobbling to the advantage of Escudero. His shot deflected from Antony Golec who was lucky to only concede a corner. Minutes later a disastrous mixup between Hamill & Topor-Stanley, who both failed to heed the golden rule of defending by letting the ball bounce, saw Escudero clean through on goal, only for Hamill to race back and get a toe on the ball.

Saba had the best shot of the half for the Wanderers when he was given acres of room to launch a rocket from well outside the area that sliced off the boot and went wide.

Right before the interval Ante Covic had a heart in mouth moment when he allowed the ball to squeeze out from under him, thankfully the onrushing Korean striker was attacking the near post and not the far, otherwise he would have had a tap-in.

Seoul looked to press Western Sydney, making a double switch at the break. With precious little to split the two teams, the Wanderers began to lose control of their passing range, wastefully giving away possession in dangerous areas from multiple players. Cha Du-Ri and Kwang-Min Ko menaced the flanks but their delivery quality was lacking.

Vitor Saba showed his class as the clock ticked to 10 minutes remaining, after gliding past several challenges he launched an audacious lobbed pass that floated into the penalty area, and had Mark Bridge been in a better body position, it could have lead to a shot on target.

Into added time, Everton Santos blazed a fierce strike that had Covic at full stretch to turn over the bar. It was the last major action of the game, an absorbing contest between the two evenly matched and equally resolute semi-finalists. While the Wanderers controlled the early stages, Seoul turned the screws late on and were unlucky not to create another golden chance after Escudero fluffed his lines earlier in the night. Both teams will feel they have what it takes to win through to the Final, and there is still everything to play for.

The Wanderers next match is the second leg of the Asian Champions League Semi-Final against FC Seoul, at Parramatta Stadium, 7:30pm on Wednesday the 1st of October 2014.

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