There were mixed fortunes for the 2025 MEIJI YASUDA J1 LEAGUE sides in AFC Champions League Elite 2025/26 action on Tuesday, as Sanfrecce Hiroshima ground out a 1-0 win over Gangwon FC but FC Machida Zelvia conceded in injury time to go down 2-1 at home to Melbourne City FC.
Things were incredibly tight at Hiroshima Soccer Stadium, and chances were few and far between in the first 45 minutes.
The closest Hiroshima came was a Hayato Araki header from an in-swinging Naoto Arai free-kick in the 31st minute, while Gangwon’s best chance arrived 12 minutes later when a Kim Kang-Guk effort bobbled wide of the far post.
Hiroshima coach Michael Skibbe made a triple substitution at half-time, and it almost paid instant dividends when one of the players introduced, Ryo Germain, played Mutsuki Kato in on goal four minutes after the restart.
Kato set himself and steered a shot beyond Gangwon goalkeeper Park Cheong-Hyo, but was disappointed to see it whistle just off target.
The same player was celebrating in the 63rd minute though, as Kato slammed a rebound into the net from close range after Park had saved from Germain.
The hosts then went down to 10 men after Sho Sasaki was sent off for a second yellow card in the 70th minute, but they dug in well and survived a late scare when Hong Chul's free-kick hit the bar in the 94th minute to make sure of all three points.
Meanwhile, FC Machida got off to a nightmare start in front of their own fans, as Gen Shoji overhit a back-pass to goalkeeper Kosei Tani and the ball squirmed into the net to give Melbourne the lead after just 32 seconds.
Na Sangho almost equalised for the hosts in the 11th minute, fizzing a strike just off target from the edge of the area, before Henry Heroki Mochizuki did level things up in the 24th minute.
Yuki Soma did well to break in behind on the left flank, and he kept his composure to cut the ball back to Mochizuki inside the area, who made no mistake with his left foot from nine yards.
Melbourne goalkeeper Patrick Beach was called upon to make a smart stop nine minutes into the second half, tipping Na’s stinging drive over the bar, and Asahi Masuyama then bent an attempt just past the post in the 85th minute.
FC Machida were dealt a hammer blow in the fourth minute of stoppage time though, as a loose ball fell to Andrew Nabbout in the six-yard box and he stabbed it off the crossbar and just over the line to make it 2-1 and serve FC Machida their first defeat in the competition.
