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| AFC Cup |
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| Two in, two off for Warriors |
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| Aleksandar Duric scored twice as Singapore drew 2-2 with Malaysia. (AFP) |
SINGAPORE - A late penalty helped Al Nahda clinch a crucial away goal in their AFC Cup quarter-final match against Singapore Armed Forces at the Jalan Besar Stadium on Tuesday night as the hosts won 2-1 but had two players sent off late in the match.
Aleksandar Duric scored twice for the S-League champions but Datoma Yedibahoma’s 85th minute spot-kick gave the Lebanese side hope ahead of the return fixture in Oman in seven days’ time.
Despite playing on unfamiliar artificial turf, Al Nahda took advantage of the hosts' caution and were the early aggressors with Asaad Baroot probing the SAF defence on the left and Mohammed Musabah doing likewise on the right.
The Warriors we not without their own forays and a through ball from John Wilkinson saw Singapore international Duric racing towards goal only to be hauled up by the offside flag.
Yousuf Mattar came close to opening the scoring for Al Nahda in the 27th minute when he rose and headed a cross from the right towards the bottom right. Shahril Jantan in the SAF goal was equal to the task and reacted brilliantly to palm it out for a corner.
Both sides struggled to make any decent efforts on target and it needed a well worked set play for SAF to take the lead through Duric in the 41st minute.
Therdsak Chaiman's free-kick from the left was headed across goal by Daniel Bennet for the big striker to nod home the opener.
The goal provided the hosts with a much-needed boost and they could have doubled the advantage two minutes later when Mustaqim Manzur's fierce drive was blocked by Ahmed Rashid.
The loose ball fell to Ahmad Latiff whose cross found Wilkinson only for the latter's header to rock the bar.
Despite having the greater share of possession after the break, the hosts had to wait until the 67th minute before they could add to their tally.
Wilkinson, who had forced a brilliant save from Ahmed Rashid with a shot from the top of the box in the 65th minute, found Duric with a cross from just outside the box two minutes later for the striker to double SAF's advantage with a well placed header.
SAF looked headed for a comfortable 2-0 lead for the return leg next week but a desperate lunge by goalkeeper Shahril on Yousuf Mattar saw referee Hiroyoshi Takayama flashing the red card.
Attacking midfielder Ahmad Latiff was replaced by substitute goalkeeper Toh Guo'an and the latter's first touch was to pick the ball out of the net after Datoma Yedibahoma converted the spot kick.
SAF were dealt another blow late in injury time was Hafiz Osman was also given his marching orders after a late tackle.
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