City trio feature in Japan’s opening Asian Cup win | OneFootball

City trio Ayaka Yamashita, Yui Hasegawa and Aoba Fujino all played the full 90 minutes of Japan’s 2-0 Asian Cup win over Chinese Taipei.

Meanwhile, Risa Shimizu – who’s currently on loan at Liverpool from the Blues – started the success before being substituted on 64 minutes.

In what was Nadeshiko’s opening match at the tournament, second-half goals from Momoko Tanikawa and Kiko Seike secured the three points in a blisteringly hot Perth.

The early patterns of play were a blueprint for what was to come with Japan pinning Chinese Taipei in their defensive third.

Nils Nielsen’s side then almost found the opener when Mina Tanaka’s cross was turned towards her own goal by Hsu Yi-yun, but Chang Chi-lan was on hand to flick the ball off the line.

Despite recording over 90% possession in the opening 45, it took until just after the hour mark for Japan to break the deadlock when Bayern Munich midfielder, Tanikawa, chested down a lofted pass to poke home.

Chinese Taipei remained in their defensive shape, but their Group C counterparts doubled their lead in stoppage time when Seike headed into the net from close range.

It was the perfect start for the two-time winners of the competition and next up for Hasegawa, Yamashita, Fujino and Co. is a meeting with India on Saturday 7 March.