GUANGZHOU, China (AP) - Urawa Reds advanced to their second Asian Champions League final in three years after Shinzo Koroki’s second-half header gave the Japanese team a 1-0 win at Guangzhou Evergrande on Wednesday.
Despite the support of more than 40,000 fans at Tianhe Stadium, China’s Guangzhou failed to overturn the 2-0 first-leg deficit, losing 3-0 on aggregate.
Guangzhou was aiming - like Urawa - to become the first team to win the trophy three times.
Coached by Italy’s 2006 World Cup winning captain Fabio Cannavaro, Guangzhou put the visitors under serious pressure but couldn’t find the breakthrough.
Koroki scored five minutes after the break for Urawa.
Urawa plays Al Hilal of Saudi Arabia in November’s two-leg final. It’s a rematch of the 2017 meeting that ended with Urawa lifting the trophy.
Al Hilal held on for a 6-5 aggregate win over Qatar’s Al Sadd on Tuesday. Al Sadd won the second leg 4-2 in Riyadh, but it wasn’t enough to overturn a 4-1 home loss from the first leg.
Al Hilal has never won the tournament but will be playing in its third final in six years.
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