Perth Glory beaten by FC Tokyo in final ACL game

Photo by KARIM JAAFAR/AFP via Getty Images

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Perth Glory players were left fuming after being denied a late penalty in their 1-0 Asian Champions League loss to FC Tokyo in Qatar.

FC Tokyo went ahead in the eighth minute of Thursday's match through the brilliance and sheer pace of Adailton.

Glory's first real shot in anger didn't come until the 61st minute, but they finished strongly and thought they should have been awarded a penalty in the 86th minute when Carlo Armiento was pushed over in the box.

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FC Tokyo defender Tsuyoshi Watanabe had both his hands in the back of Armiento, and Glory players were left stunned when the referee waved play on.

The loss meant little for Glory given that they were already out of the running to secure a spot in the round of 16. The result was enough for FC Tokyo to finish second in the group and advance.

Glory will now return home to Perth, where they will undergo a two-week quarantine before kicking off their A-League season on Jan. 16.

Although Perth came away with just one point to show from their six ACL matches, their youthful squad put in brave efforts each time and were never outclassed.

Perth were on the backfoot for the majority of the first half as FC Tokyo launched wave after wave of attacks.

It took only eight minutes for them to break through, with Adailton using his blistering pace to burn off a Glory defender before neatly guiding the ball past goalkeeper Liam Reddy.

Glory endured a nervous moment nine minutes later when the ball dribbled off the leg of defender Jonathan Aspropotamitis and onto the post. Luckily for Glory the ball rebounded straight back and Reddy was able to gobble it up.

Diego Castro, Bruno Fornaroli, and Dane Ingham were introduced at the start of the second half, and their presence had an immediate impact as Glory started to create chances. Neil Kilkenny blasted his long-range effort high in the 61st minute, while Castro had his curling strike saved. Glory thought they would have a chance to equalise when Armiento was pushed over in the box, but no penalty was forthcoming.