FC Machida Zelvia’s dream debut in continental competition continued on Friday night (Saturday morning, Japan time), as the MEIJI YASUDA J1 100 YEAR VISION LEAGUE side won its AFC Champions League Elite 2025/26 quarter-final against Al Ittihad Club 1-0 to advance to the semi-finals.
Both teams had sights of goal in the opening exchanges at Prince Abdullah Al-Faisal Sports City Stadium, with Al Ittihad’s Moussa Diaby whistling a left-footed effort just wide from 25 yards in the 12th minute and Na Sangho then shooting straight at Al Ittihad goalkeeper Predrag Rajkovic after a terrific dribble down the left flank for FC Machida five minutes later.
The breakthrough then came just past the half-hour mark, when Tete Yengi opened the scoring for FC Machida in the 31st minute.
Kotaro Hayashi launched a trademark long throw into the box from the right, Daihachi Okamura did just enough to flick the ball on, and after it fell to Yengi his shot was deflected into the net via a deflection off Fabinho.
Al Ittihad almost benefited from a deflection of their own seven minutes into the second half, but after Houssem Aouar’s attempt spun up off Hayashi’s leg it hit the far post before being cleared to safety.
FC Machida survived another scare in the 73rd minute when Abdulrahman Al Obud crossed from deep and Youssef En-Nesyri headed goalwards, only to see his effort bounce off the other post.
It looked as though Al Ittihad had pulled level with four minutes remaining when Danilo Pereira bundled home from inside the six-yard box, but after a VAR check and on-field review the strike was ruled out for handball.
After that FC Machida kept things tight to hold on for the win, creating more history as they set up a semi-final against either Buriram United F.C. or Shabab Al Ahli FC.
