The Yokohama Mariners and Bangkok United played an exciting match that ended in a 1-0 draw, helping the Yokohama Mariners advance with a 3-2 aggregate score. Looking back at the group stage, the Yokohama Mariners finished top of Group G with Shandong Taishan, while Bangkok United topped Group F, edging out Jeonbuk Hyundai. In the first round, Yokohama Mariners played on the road, but led by two goals in the 24th minute, but lost due to a red card disadvantage, which made this game a make-or-break battle for promotion.
The match was played at the Yokohama International Complex Arena and was officiated by Uzbeksan referee Ilgiz Tantashev. Neither side was able to score in the first half, with Yokohama Mariners shooting inefficiently despite dominating the field, while Bangkok United's offense repeatedly missed. In the second half, the Yokohama Mariners continued to control the pace of the offense, but their shots were still not accurate enough. Bangkok United went all out on defense and prepared to go into overtime. Neither team had anything to do in regulation time, and with the aggregate score at 2-2, the match went into overtime.
The two sides remained scoreless in overtime until the 120th+1st minute when Yokohama Mariners' Yufei Murakami grabbed a penalty kick and Lopez hit it to give Yokohama Mariners a 1-0 lead. Bangkok United were unable to turn things around and the Yokohama Mariners eventually advanced with a 3-2 aggregate score. The other match between Kofu Furin and Hyundai Ulsan was just as exciting and ended in a 1-2 defeat, 1-5 on aggregate.
Kofu Fung Lam started a heated battle with Ulsan Hyundai at the New National Stadium in Tokyo, with Iranian referee Moeoud Bonnyadifard. Shortly after the match started, a goal from Ulsan Hyundai gave the visitors the lead. Kofu-Fenglin went all out and equalized in the 88th minute. However, Ulsan Hyundai's Cho Min-gyu scored a strike in the 90th+4th minute of the match to win 2-1. Ulsan Hyundai killed Kofu Fung Lam and successfully entered the last eight of the AFC Champions League, and the Korean derby with Jeonbuk Hyundai will be played soon. And in the 1/8 final, Jeonbuk Hyundai eliminated Pohang Steelers with 3-1.
