Yokohama F Marinos reached the Asian Champions League semifinals for the first time Wednesday after the tournament's only remaining Japanese side downed China's Shandong Taishan 1-0 in their quarterfinals second leg at home, prevailing 3-1 on aggregate.
Forward Anderson Lopes struck the 75th-minute winning volley for 10-man Marinos before the visitors also went a man down late on at International Stadium Yokohama as Harry Kewell's side set up a last-four meeting with South Korea's Ulsan Hyundai.
"I'm really happy. It's a pleasure to be creating history wearing this shirt," Lopes said. "We still have two rounds to go, and we'll all go for it together."
An early free header from midfielder Asahi Uenaka was straight at Wang Dalei in Shandong's goal before Yan Matheus's goal-bound cross and Lopes' deflected shot both forced tricky saves from the keeper. Shandong forward Peng Xinli twice shot over from outside the box in a closely contested first half.
Marinos suffered a blow two minutes after the break when left-back Katsuya Nagato received a second yellow card for inadvertently kicking Tong Lei's ankle, and they needed keeper William Popp to deny Valeri Qazaishvili's deflected shot before dealing a decisive blow at the other end.
Former Arsenal winger Ryo Miyaichi picked the ball up near the right-hand corner on a counter, and his cutback found fellow substitute Riku Yamane, whose accurate cross to the far post was met beautifully by Lopes' left foot.
Shandong defender Gao Zhunyi was shown a straight red with seven minutes to go for bringing down Miyaichi, who was clean through outside the box. Bi Jinhao chipped his effort onto the bar in the dying minutes for the visitors, but that was as far as they got.
"We stuck in there and worked hard and made the difference in the end," Kewell said. "I think it's important that we enjoy it and we celebrate with our fans because they were amazing tonight."
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