Melbourne Victory secured progression to the AFC Champions League Round of 16 with a 2-1 win over FC Seoul on Friday morning.
Going in to the game, Victory knew it had to win to move on from Group E while a draw would have been enough for Seoul to keep second place.
Victory couldn’t have asked for a better start, taking the lead in just the 5th minute thanks to Kiwi attacker Marco Rojas.
Leigh Broxham won the ball in the middle of the park before giving it off to Callum McManaman who then found Rojas on the right side of the field.
Rojas ran at the Seoul defence before using a couple of step-overs to work the ball on to his left foot for a lovely low finish past goalkeeper Yang Han-been.
WATCH: Marco Rojas opens the scoring for Victory
GOAL! A lovely finish by Marco Rojas to give us the lead in Doha #MELvFCS 1-0 #ACL2020 @FOXFOOTBALL pic.twitter.com/BJP0YxPTN7
— Melbourne Victory (@gomvfc) December 3, 2020
The ‘home’ side’s lead was doubled not long after when Hwang Hyun-soo fouled Callum McManaman in the area and the referee pointed to the spot.
Jake Brimmer stepped up and fired a powerful strike past Han-been and into the right side of the net.
Victory managed to carry the 2-0 lead into the break, however it did lose Leigh Broxham to injury just moments before the referee’s whistle for half-time – he was replaced by Jay Barnett in midfield.
Final Group E standings
💯 Well done @gomvfc, who join Beijing FC in the #ACL2020 last 16.
👍 1st appearance in the KO rounds since 2016. pic.twitter.com/cyOpDUR3sU
— #ACLElite & #ACLTwo (@TheAFCCL) December 3, 2020
Hyun-soo atoned for giving away the penalty earlier in the match by pulling a goal back for Seoul in the 64th minute.
Han Seung-gyu’s perfectly weighted free-kick found Hyun-soo who headed the ball past an oncoming Max Crocombe to give the South Korean side hope.
Crocombe was called into action a number of times in the latter stages of the game but held his nerve, as did the Victory defence marshalled by Nick Ansell.
Victory held on to secure the win, its first Group Stage triumph outside Australia, and book a clash with Ulsan Hyundai in the Round of 16.
Result
AFC Champions League 2020 Group E
Melbourne Victory 2 (Rojas 5’, Brimmer 22’)
FC Seoul 1 (Hyun-soo 64′)
Melbourne Victory: Crocombe, Roux, Traore, Ansell, Anderson, Broxham (Barnett 45′), Butterfield, Brimmer, McManaman, Rojas, Folami (Lawrie-Lattanzio 72′)
FC Seoul: Han-been, Kwang-min (Jin-ya 82′), Yu-min, Hyun-soo, Young-sun, Won-sik (Jin-seong 83′), Han-min (Young-wook 46′), Osmar, Seung-gyu, Seong-yoon (Ju-tae 46′), Chu-young (Seung-jae 60′)
Yellow cards: Ju-tae 70′, Butterfield 87′
Venue: Education City Stadium
Up next
Melbourne Victory will now face Ulsan Hyundai in a one-off Round of 16 clash on Monday, December 7. Kick-off at the Education City Stadium will be 1:00am AEDT.
