The Western Sydney Wanderers will face FC Seoul in the Asian Champions League Semi-Final after they progressed in the Quarter Final tie against Guangzhou Evergrande on the away goals rule.
Following the 1-0 win in Parramatta, and despite the 2-1 loss on the night, an away goal to Tomi Juric gave Western Sydney victory in a nerve racking tie in China.
Goalkeeper Ante Covic was the hero in the first half with his penalty save. Covic spared the blushes of Iacopo La Rocca who felled Elkeson in the penalty box with an utterly dreadful tackle reminiscent of the one by Lucas Neill against Italy in the World Cup in Germany. Gilardino stepped up to the spot only to be denied by Covic, his penalty was a poor one, almost straight down the middle but with no power or height he effectively hit the strike straight at the Wanderers number 1.
The Wanderers were placed under immense pressure in the second half, but found their vital goal through a penalty of their own. The Evergrande defence were lulled into a false sense of security by Juric being in an offside position, it let Bridge stroll unopposed into the box and he was taken out in a woeful challenge by opposition keeper Zeng Cheng, who received the most red card worthy yellow card I've seen in years.
Juric blasted his penalty to the right side netting to give his side a 1-0 lead on the night and a 2-0 lead on aggregate. Unfortunately for the Wanderers, it looked like the referee gave Juric his own yellow card for the post-goal celebration, and if so, Juric will miss the first leg against Seoul.
The drama was far from over though as Guangzhou immediately pegged the Wanderers back when Diamanti, who was best player on the park for the ACL winners of last year, took advantage of a flick-on that left him wide open for a neat finish under the legs of Covic.
Hearts in mouth time came halfway through the four minutes of stoppage as Guangzhou threatened a miracle escape by scoring their second on the night through Elkeson who had a tap-in at the back post after a goal-line scramble.
The 120 seconds remaining seemed like an eternity, but stoic possession by the Wanderers kept the ball in their attacking half and several fouls later full time was blown, sending the Wanderers into the semi-final in their first appearance in the Asian Champions League via the majestic away goals rule.
The win was the best loss in the history of the club, their progression into the semi-final has only been matched by Australian clubs once, with Adelaide United, who also managed to progress through to the final in the 2008 edition of the competition.
The current ACL schedule, if followed, will see the Wanderers play FC Seoul in Korea in the first leg on the 17th of September, with the return leg on the 1st of October. There are rumours that the club will be playing a friendly tournament in the middle east but there has been no official confirmation as yet.
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