Brawl in Suwon mars AFC Champions League semifinal

By Yi Whan-woo

A mass brawl between the K-League’s Suwon BlueWings and Qatar’s Al Sadd marred the Asian Champions League semifinal first-leg match, Wednesday.

The incident occurred after Al Sadd’s Senegalese striker Mamadou Niang scored a controversial second goal in a 2-0 win over the hosts in Suwon, Gyeonggi Province.

The BlueWings players expected to be given the ball back after forward Yeom Ki-hun put the ball into touch as defender Choi Sung-hwan had collided with an opponent in the penalty area.

After the throw-in, the Senegal forward intercepted the ball nine minutes before full time and rounded goalkeeper Jung Sung-ryong to score his second goal, following his opener in the 69th.

“Clearly, Yeom Ki-hun had put the ball out of play and I think it was a situation when our players should have got it back,” BlueWings manager Yoon Sung-hyo said.

The goal infuriated the home side and players and staff clashed with the visitors. The brawl escalated, as a supporter ran onto the field in protest, which saw, Al Sadd’s Kader Keita strike him in the face.

“There’s no excuse for a fan running onto the field and attacking our players,” Al Sadd manager Jorge Fossati said.

The game saw both Niang and Keita being red carded along with Suwon striker Stevica Ristikj of Macedonia.

Both sides blamed each other for the incident. Fossati said the BlueWings were responsible for not immediately kicking the ball out but initially continuing with the game.

“I don’t want to defend the second goal but I think Niang was angry and took the decision by himself,” Fossati said.

“Our players were annoyed that Suwon kept attacking.”

Suwon’s manager took the opposing view, saying, “The opposition scored an ungentlemanly goal but there’s nothing we can do about it.”

Meanwhile, Al Sadd’s Korean defender Lee Jung-soo did not take part in the melee. Lee played for the BlueWings for three seasons from 2006 to 2008.

“I understand how disappointed he would have been and I’ll have a chat with him when we return home,” Fossati said.

The BlueWings now face a massive task when they travel to Qatar for the second leg on next Wednesday.

In other side of the semifinal, Jeonbuk Motors won 3-2 away to Saudi Arbia’s Al Ittihad.

Jeonbuk took an early lead in the second minute when midfielder Enio Oliveira Junior’s shot deflected off a defender and into the net.

While the visitors then conceded two goals after the opener, the Brazilian stepped up again in the second half.

His corner kick 12 minutes after the break found midfielder Park Won-jae, who passed the ball to defender Son Seung-jun to level the game at 2-2.

Enio then set up another goal from a corner in the 87th minute, this time picking out defender Cho Sung-hwan to secure the victory.