Central Coast Mariners are in AFC Champions League Elite action for the final time this season, taking on Kawasaki Frontale in Tokyo on Tuesday evening.
The Mariners have nothing to play for in terms of progression in the tournament, but will be looking to leave one final mark on the competition before we return our focus to a big finals push in the Isuzu UTE A-League.
Despite the results, there has been plenty of positives to take from each performance and we saw that again in last week’s gutsy display against a strong Johor Darul Ta’zim side at Our Paradise, Mark Jackson’s men staying in the contest despite playing more than a half with ten men.
🗣 "𝙒𝙚 𝙛𝙤𝙪𝙜𝙝𝙩 𝙩𝙝𝙧𝙤𝙪𝙜𝙝 𝙖 𝙡𝙤𝙩 𝙤𝙛 𝙘𝙝𝙖𝙡𝙡𝙚𝙣𝙜𝙚𝙨 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙖𝙙𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙨𝙞𝙩𝙮 𝙞𝙣 𝙣𝙞𝙣𝙚𝙩𝙮-𝙥𝙡𝙪𝙨 𝙢𝙞𝙣𝙪𝙩𝙚𝙨 𝙤𝙛 𝙛𝙤𝙤𝙩𝙗𝙖𝙡𝙡. 𝙄 𝙖𝙢 𝙞𝙢𝙢𝙚𝙣𝙨𝙚𝙡𝙮 𝙥𝙧𝙤𝙪𝙙 𝙤𝙛 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙩𝙚𝙖𝙢."
— Central Coast Mariners (@CCMariners) February 12, 2025
Jacko's post game thoughts 🗞: https://t.co/ufNDVmCS8Q pic.twitter.com/4loj7L7F6n
🔎 Kawasaki Frontale
Formidable Frontale present yet another tough test for Jacko’s injury-hit squad, the Japanese club have won four consecutive ACLE matches and are hopeful of leapfrogging their J1 League rivals Vissel Kobe and Yokohama F. Marinos, to take top spot in the group.
It wasn’t an ideal season for Kawasaki in the J1 League in 2024, finishing eighth, which is their joint-lowest finish since 2011. However, an Emperor’s Cup win confirms their place in next seasons AFC Champions League Elite again.
With no A-League match over the weekend, the team have had some time to settle in and get to work, whilst Kawasaki were in action on Saturday.
The J1 League kicked off their 2025 season this weekend, with Kawsawki the early table toppers after they ran out 4-0 winners over Nagoya Grampus.
Frontale were completely dominant in the game, not allowing a single shot on target in the game, with the key takeaways for the Mariners including the impact of Kawasaki’s second half substitutions.
The game was goalless at half time, before Frontale ran away with it in the second half. Sota Miura was the creator of the first two goals, before Hinata Yamauchi scored and assisted after coming off the bench.
🗣 Mark Jackson: “We will attack this last game”
Hear also from Lucas Mauragis ahead of this game, as well as the latest CCM content, via Central Coast Mariners on YouTube.
🌴 February football at Our Paradise
Following the final ACLE group stage, attention turns to a huge run-in in the Isuzu UTE A-League for Jacko and the team, with games coming no bigger than Saturday’s home match against Western Sydney Wanderers.
We got the better of Wanderers at Commbank last month, and we have to do the same on home soil this week to strengthen our finals hopes.
Another huge night of football at Our Paradise follows on February 28th, with a Friday night Double Header with our Ninja A-League team taking on the Wanderers before our Men face another big top-six battle against Western United.
