INCHEON United denied Kaya FC-Iloilo a graceful exit in the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Champions League group stage, dealing the Philippine kingpin a 3-1 loss Wednesday night at the Rizal Memorial Stadium.
Park Seung-ho opened the scoring in the 12th minute and Choi Woo-jin followed up with a left-footed strike 13 minutes later to give the visitors the upperhand in the Group G duel.
Kaya pulled one back in the 53rd on Simone Rota’s header but it failed to get the equalizer and eventually conceded a third goal to Incheon’s Kim Do-hyeok from the spot in stoppage time to finish the campaign at 0-6.
The Koreans sealed its fourth victory against a loss for 12 points but it was not enough to propel them to the Round of 16.
Incheon wound up in a three-way tie on points with Japan’s Yokohama Marinos and China’s Shandong Taishan but lost out in the race for the two berths due to inferior goal difference. Incheon’s 3-1 scoreline against Kaya and Yokohama’s 3-0 shutout of Shandong proved fatal to the Korean side.
Meanwhile, Stallion Laguna FC absorbed a 0-3 defeat at the hands of Australia’s Central Coast Mariners to bow out of the AFC Cup also winless in six games over at the Binan Stadium. — Olmin Leyba