Nagoya Grampus 1-2 Al Ittihad (3-8 agg.): Saudis Stroll Into Asian Champions League Final

An impressive Al Ittihad booked their place in the final of the Asian Champions League after a 2-1 second leg win at Nagoya Grampus in the semi-final gave them a 8-3 victory on aggregate.

The Saudi Arabian giants have to wait for a few hours to learn whether they face Pohang Steelers of South Korea or Qatar’s Umm Salal in the final in Tokyo on November 7.

After a 6-2 loss a week earlier, it was always going to be a huge mountain for Nagoya to climb and they never really looked like doing it against a well-drilled Ittihad team that looked dangerous on the counter-attack.

The tie lasted as a contest until the end of the first half when Saleh Al-Saqri shocked the home fans by making it 8-3 on aggregate.

Tunisian striker Amine Chermiti doubled Ittihad’s second leg advantage on the hour, The home fans finally had something to cheer about midway through the second half thanks to a spectacular strike from Keita Sugimoto.

The beginning was much more nervous than the end as Al Ittihad seemed to expect an early bombardment.

That is exactly what happened as Nagoya sent in a series of high balls into the area in an attempt to find giant striker Josh Kennedy.

Veteran goalkeeper Mabrouk Zaid wasn’t totally convincing in dealing with those but deal with them the 30 year-old did.

The game soon settled down as did the Saudi defence. Apart from a Kennedy shot from just outside the area that went past the post, Nagoya struggled to turn possession into chances.

Ittihad came closest to breaking the deadlock midway through the first half as a fierce half-volley from Saud Khariri was cleared off the line.

On the half hour, Ittihad had an even better chance with Amine Chermiti shooting wide when through on goal with only Toru Hasegawa to beat

Dragan Stojkovic's men should have taken the lead after 34 minutes.

For the first time, Nagoya got behind the visiting defence and Keiji Tamada’s cross found an unmarked Kennedy on the edge of the six yard box but the Australian’s header smacked against the middle of the bar.

Al Saqri got the goal just before the break. Rashed Al-Raheeb burst free down the right and his low cross was backheeled towards goal by Mohammed Noor.

Hasegawa kept that out by Al Saqri was on hand to poke home the rebound.

Nagoya started well after the restart and Kennedy missed two great chances in the space of a minute.

Through on goal, his weak flick was turned out  for a corner by Zaid and the striker headed the resultant kick over from close range.

Although the tie was out of reach, the second leg moved out of reach of Nagoya on the hour.

A sublime Noor cross from deep was headed past the floundering Hasegawa by Chermiti.

Nagoya’s fans were rewarded for their support 23 minutes from the end with a stunning strike from Sugimoto.

Introduced just moments earlier,  Sugimoto chested down a floated free-kick from Magnum and then launched an overhead kick over Zaid and into the top of the Ittihad net.

The hosts had a few more chances but Saudi Arabian thoughts were already turning to Tokyo.