Central Coast Mariners have resurrected their chances of progressing from the Asian Champions League group stage by beating Tianjin Teda 5-1 at Bluetongue Stadium on Tuesday night.
The A-League club required a win to keep in touch with the top two teams in Group G - Seongnam Ilhwa and Nagoya Grampus - who drew 1-1 in South Korea, meaning the Mariners are just one point off a top-two finish with one group match remaining.
Daniel McBreen opened the scoring in the 10th minute when he slotted home Pedj Bojic's rightwing cross before doubling the advantage about ten minutes later with another finish from a Bojic pass.
Five minutes into the second half, the Mariners were flying when Josh Rose hammered home a loose ball in the area prior to Michael McGlinchey making it 4-0 with an excellent curling effort. Tianjin managed to get one back in the 73rd minute through Liao Bochao but the home side were not done there with Mustafa Amini sending home a crisp first-time volley in what could be his last match for the club before heading to German champions Borussia Dortmund.
It was an historic win for Central Coast as it was the first time they had saluted in the competition in their second season and now sets up an enthralling clash with Nagoya in Japan on May 15, the same date as Tianjin host Seongnam.
