Kanamori equaliser earns Melbourne City vital point against FC Seoul

Melbourne City has salvaged a crucial away draw with FC Seoul to further boost the A-League club’s hopes of reaching the AFC Champions League Elite round-of-16 stage.

Melbourne City remains on target to progress to the AFC Champions League Elite knockout stages after a 1-1 away draw with South Korean outfit FC Seoul.

City trailed 1-0 in Wednesday night’s clash at the Seoul World Cup Stadium following a goal from former England international Jesse Lingard.

However, City grabbed a share of the points with a second-half equaliser from Japanese substitute Takeshi Kanamori.

The draw came just hours after City announced that stalwart Mathew Leckie had surgery on his right hip following a host of soft-tissue injuries in the past two seasons.

Leckie is expected to be sidelined until the latter stages of City’s 2025-26 campaign.

With two rounds of matches remaining in the league stage of the Champions League Elite competition, the Aurelio Vidmar-coached City is in fourth pace on the East region table with 10 points.

At the completion of the league stage in February next year, the top eight teams from the East and West region tables will progress to the round-of-16.

A hard-fought point on the road 👊

🤝 We end Matchday 6 of the #ACLElite in fourth place on the East Region League Stage table.

Two fixtures remain, both to be played in February next year. pic.twitter.com/xKkiAu8hE9

— Melbourne City FC (@MelbourneCity) December 10, 2025

City’s next Champions League match is an away clash against another South Korean team, Ulsan HD, on February 11.

While City’s Champions League campaign has been solid, the Kevin Muscat-coached Shanghai Port continues to struggle.

The Chinese Super League champions drew 0-0 on Wednesday night with Malaysian club Johor Darul Ta’zim.

Port sit on the bottom of the East region ladder with no wins and just two points from six games.

Already six points behind eighth-placed Ulsan and with a vastly inferior goal difference, Port's hopes of reaching the round-of-16 are all but dashed.

Originally published as Kanamori equaliser earns Melbourne City vital point against FC Seoul