Vissel Kobe beat Daejeon Citizen 1-0 in AFC Champions League Elite

Vissel Kobe beat hosts Daejeon Citizen 1-0 in a match played as part of the third round of the league stage of the AFC Champions League Elite for the 2026/27 season, which kicked off at 13:00 Saudi (Damascus) time.

Ren Komatsu scored the only goal of the match in the 83rd minute, giving his side Vissel Kobe a valuable three points away from home.

Despite the defeat, Daejeon Citizen had more possession with 54 percent against 46 percent for Vissel Kobe, and also had 19 attempts compared to 10 for Vissel Kobe, and won 7 corner kicks against 2 for their visitors, while the expected goals rate stood at 0.96 for Daejeon Citizen compared to 0.58 for Vissel Kobe.

For their part, Vissel Kobe registered 5 shots on target compared to 5 also for Daejeon Citizen, while the Vissel Kobe goalkeeper made 5 saves compared to just 2 for the Daejeon Citizen goalkeeper, and the match saw no red cards, while Vissel Kobe received one yellow card compared to none for Daejeon Citizen.

Goalkeeper Shuichi Gonda was named man of the match after a standout performance that included 5 saves across the full 90 minutes, with a rating of 7.99.

With this result, Vissel Kobe raised their tally to 6 points from two wins in two matches in the East Region group, placing them third with 4 goals scored and 1 goal conceded, while Daejeon Citizen remained on 4 points from one win and one draw in two matches, placing them seventh with 2 goals scored and 1 goal conceded.