Central Coast Mariners were the first of the three A-League clubs to kick off its 2014 Champions League campaign with a game at FC Seoul on Tuesday night. The Mariners were outclassed and finished with just ten men in a 2-0 defeat at the hands of the 2013 finalists at the Sangam Stadium. Osmar Barba Ibanez and Yun Il-Lok scored for the hosts before Marcel Seip was shown red with the game already out of reach in the 84th minute. The Mariners, who escaped Group H in last year’s competition after taking just one point from the first two games, are in a familiar position after losing this year’s opener.
Central Coast Mariners fall in Champions League opener
The A-League side played well in stretches but could not keep FC Seoul from taking all three points in the Group F game.
Seoul’s opener came from the spot after referee Fahad Almirdasi awarded a penalty for contact between Josh Rose and Sergio Escudero. The Mariners protested the penalty on the field and afterward in a press conference, but Osmar’s conversion left Central Coast behind during a spell of strong play. Seoul made it two ten minutes after halftime when 21-year-old Korean international Yun Il-Lok finished off a fine sequence to beat Liam Reddy and finish off the Mariners.
Central Coast’s next chance in the Champions League will come on Tuesday March 11 with Sanfrecce Hiroshima coming to Gosford. The J-League side was held at home by Beijing Guoan on Tuesday night in Hiroshima. Meanwhile, the Mariners will host Sydney FC on Saturday March 1 in A-League play.
Scoring:
FCS Osmar (pen) 32’
FCS Il-Lok 56’
Line-ups:
FC Seoul: Yong-Dae, Ju-Young, Du-Ri, Jin-Kyu, Chi-Woo, Escudero (Hyunsung 92’), Yohan, Myongjin, Il-Lok (Rafael 85’), Osmar, Sanghyeob (Seung-Jo 61’)
Unused substitutes: Wonghee, Hyuntae, Ilkoo, Kwang-Min
Central Coast Mariners: Reddy; Rose, Seip, Anderson, Roux; Hutchinson, Montgomery, Fitzgerald; Kim (Caceras 85’), Simon, Ibini (Duke 71’)
Unused substitutes: Pasfield, Griffiths, Slater, Trifiro, Sim
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