Kobe down Al-Sadd to advance to Asian CL semis

Vissel Kobe advanced to the semi-finals of the Asian Champions League (CL) Elite on Thursday as the Japanese side eliminated Roberto Mancini’s Al-Sadd 5-4 on penalties after a dramatic 3-3 draw in Jeddah.

Claudinho’s miss in the third round of spot-kicks left substitute Jean Patric to score the winning penalty for the J-League outfit, who advance to the last four for the second time in the club’s history.

“It is the mentality of Japanese teams to never give up,” said Kobe coach Michael Skibbe, whose side equalised through Yoshinori Muto deep into stoppage time to take the game into extra time.

“We tried to score until the last second and even in the last second we have done it.”

Al Sadd had taken the lead in the sixth minute at the end of a flowing counterattack sparked by a clever backheel inside his own half by Roberto Firmino to Claudinho.