Kashima crush Pohang Steelers 3-0 in AFC Champions League Elite

Kashima secured a big 3-0 win over visitors Pohang Steelers, in the match played between them in matchday three of the league stage of the AFC Champions League Elite for the 2026/27 season, held on 28 October at 13:00 Saudi time and broadcast by beIN SPORTS.

All the goals of the match came in the second half, as Ryuta Koike opened the scoring in the 69th minute, before Aleksandar Čavrić added the second goal in the 75th minute, and Matheus Bueno completed his team's hat-trick in the 87th minute. The match did not see any red cards for either team.

Matheus Bueno received the man of the match award after scoring one goal and providing an assist during the full 90 minutes he played, with a rating of 9 out of 10.

In terms of statistics, Kashima dominated possession with 71 percent compared to 29 percent for Pohang Steelers, while the home side had 15 attempts, 6 of which were on target, compared to no shots on target for the visitors, who did not threaten Kashima's goal throughout the match. Kashima's expected goals (xg) rate reached 1.99 compared to 0.35 for Pohang, while Pohang's goalkeeper made three saves.

The match was officiated by referee Sadullo Gulmurodi.

With this result, Kashima rose to fourth place in the East Region with 6 points from two matches, winning both of them, scoring 8 goals and conceding just one. In contrast, Pohang Steelers remained in 14th place without any points after losing both of their matches, scoring one goal and conceding 5 goals.