Yokohama Marinos of Japan, which belongs to the City Football Group and whose clubs include Manchester City of England, overcame the waste of a 3-0 lead against its guest, Ulsan Hyundai of South Korea, and beat them on penalties 5-4 (3-3 on aggregate), to reach the AFC Champions League final on Wednesday. In football, where he will meet Al Ain.
After the first leg of the semi-final ended with Ulsan, the 2012 and 2020 champion, winning with a clean goal, Yokohama, coached by former Australian star Harry Kewell, made a great start at home.
He quickly took a three-point lead half an hour after the starting whistle, signed by Asahi Uenaka (13th and 30th) and Brazilian veteran Anderson Lopes (21st).
While the 1990 runner-up, when it was called Nissan Yokohama, was heading towards a comfortable qualification to the final, Ulsan reduced the gap through Brazilian Matheus Salles with a header (35).
To make matters worse for Yokohama, Takumi Kamijima was expelled after handling the ball with his hand inside the area, and a penalty kick was awarded, converted by Swede Darian Bojanic (42), so Ulsan reduced the difference to 2-3, and tied the score of the two matches to 3-3.
The score remained the same in the second half and two extra halves, so the two teams resorted to penalty kicks in the rain.
It was a tie before Kim Min-soo missed a kick that was blocked by Yokohama goalkeeper William Pope, so Brazilian Eduardo planted the winning kick 5-4 and booked the final ticket.
Yokohama will host the first leg of the final on May 11, while Al Ain will host the second leg on the 25th.
In the semi-final, Al-Ain defeated Al-Hilal Saudi Arabia, the four-time champion, 5-4 on aggregate.