Source :- PERTH NOW NEWS
Newcastle Jets have suffered a horror start to their Asian Champions League Elite campaign with a 7-1 thrashing by Kashima Antlers in Japan.
Aleksandar Cavric scored a first-half hat-trick for Kashima, title winners in 2018, as the J-League champions dished out a lesson to Mark Milligan’s side at Kashima Stadium in the eastern league phase opener.
It was Jets’ first Asian Champions League tie since being beaten 4-1 by the same opponents in the 2018 playoff round.
“I think we started the game very well, we pressed them almost all the time so it was quite intense in the first half,” said Cavric, who scored in the 11th and 16th minutes to give Kashima early control on Tuesday.
“We didn’t give them much time to think so that’s why we were able to create many chances.”
James Delianov’s 19th-minute own goal left Newcastle with a challenging task that became insurmountable when Homare Tokuda hit the fourth in the 40th minute and Cavric completed his hat-trick two minutes later.
Tokuda and Kyosuke Tagawa scored in the second half for Kashima before Patrick Wood netted a 79th minute consolation for the visitors.
The Jets qualified as the regular season premiers in 2025-26 A-League Men. They are Australia’s only representatives as Adelaide United were knocked out in the preliminary round. The Jets next match is at home to Gamba Osaka, who began with a 4-1 win over Adelaide’s conquerors, Cong An Ha Noi from Vietnam.
Elsewhere Kevin Muscat’s Shanghai Port survived a frantic finish to secure a 6-4 win over Ratchaburi. Port were in charge after Prince Ampem scored three times in 15 minutes at the end of the first half, with Wu Lei adding a fourth in the 51st minute.
The introduction of Njiva Rakotoharimalala gave Ratchaburi hope, the Madagascar international scoring a late hat-trick but the Chinese Super League side held on to secure their first win in the competition since November 2024.
There were also wins for South Korea’s Daejeon Citizen and Beijing Guoan while Neil Etheridge made an 87th minute penalty save to ensure 10-man Buriram United of Thailand secured a 1-1 draw with hosts Johor Darul Ta’zim in Malaysia.
The top eight finishers in the 16-team eastern league phase will advance to the knockout rounds, with the tournament’s quarter-finals, semi-finals and final to be played in Saudi Arabia in April and May.
