MACAO, Sept. 19 (Xinhua) -- Japanese side Kashima Antlers cruised into a first AFC Champions League semifinal on Tuesday, progressing 5-0 on aggregate after an assured 3-0 win in their quarterfinal second leg away to China's Tianjin Quanjian.
The first leg finished 2-0 to Kashima three weeks ago, but Go Oiwa's side almost offered Tianjin some early encouragement when they gifted Alexandre Pato a free sight of goal in just the third minute at the Macao Olympic Stadium.
The former AC Milan star could only direct his close-range attempt straight at a relieved Kwoun Sun-Tae though, and within 10 minutes it was instead Kashima opening the scoring as Serginho nodded home a Yasushi Endo corner from in front of Tianjin goalkeeper Zhang Lu.
In the 24th minute, Atsuto Uchida cleared a Pato volley off the line after a Kwoun punch had landed kindly for the Brazilian on the edge of the area, and three minutes later Uchida was making a vital contribution at the other end of the pitch, tearing down the right flank and cutting back into the area for Hiroki Abe to convert Antlers' second via a deflection off Kwon Kyung-Won.
Endo almost made it 3-0 on the night seconds later, but saw his side-footed effort tipped past the post by Zhang Lu after some neat build-up play from Yuma Suzuki and Serginho, and Suzuki was next to threaten but could only direct his header from a Leo Silva free-kick into the arms of Tianjin's busy custodian in the 34th minute.
After establishing such a healthy lead in the first half Kashima took their foot off the gas a little after the break, happy to let Paulo Sousa's side have possession in non-threatening areas before pressing keenly once they advanced into the final third.
They still posed a threat on the counter though, and wrapped up the win in the 66th minute when substitute Shoma Doi rifled into the top corner after a one-two with Serginho enabled him to break into box.
ACL debutants Tianjin could have claimed a consolation in the 89th minute, but Zheng Dalun saw his effort after some tricky footwork in the right side of the penalty area tipped onto the post by Kwoun.
Kashima will now play the winners of the Suwon Samsung Bluewings and Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors quarter-final, with Suwon holding a 3-0 lead heading into Wednesday's second leg in Suwon.
