Yokohama F Marinos lost the Asian Champions League final 6-3 on aggregate to Al Ain on Saturday after the first-time finalists went down 5-1 in the return leg in the United Arab Emirates with a man sent off.
The J-League side held a 2-1 lead from the first leg a week earlier and the match at Hazza Bin Zayed Stadium was in the balance with Al Ain leading 2-1 until Marinos goalkeeper William Popp was shown a straight red on the stroke of halftime for tripping two-goal scorer Soufiane Rahimi outside the box.
The Morocco forward gave Al Ain an eighth-minute lead after slotting home Yahia Nader's backheel from close range. Shinnosuke Hatanaka then conceded a penalty following a VAR check after the defender was adjudged to have brought down Rahimi inside the box, with Kaku netting from the spot in the 33rd minute.
Marinos winger Yan Matheus tied the overall score in the 40th minute after stealing the ball off Kouame Kouadio and evaded the defender's pressure before steering the ball into the far left corner. But a shaky Marinos backline was breached again and made to pay with Popp getting sent off.
Marinos were holding on until the 67th minute when Rahimi's left-footed shot from a tight angle beat substitute keeper Fuma Shirasaka at the near post.
The keeper failed to clear a loose ball and let Kodjo Laba roll the ball into an empty net a minute into stoppage time before the Togo forward flicked in from meters out to complete the scoreline in the dying seconds for Hernan Crespo's side.
"We were just ashamed that it wasn't a fair enough game to be able to put on a good show (for our traveling fans)," Marinos manager Harry Kewell said as he expressed his frustration with the officiating.
