Thu, 28 Oct, 2021
Pohang: Uzbekistan champions Bunyodkor emphatically got their AFC Champions League campaign back on track on Wednesday with an impressive 2-0 win over Pohang Steelers thanks to goals from Lutfulla Turaev and Kamoliddin Murzoev at the Steelyard.
Turaev, who won the AFC Cup with Nasaf last year, broke the deadlock in spectacular fashion after 28 minutes before Murzoev sealed the win with 13 minutes remaining as Bunyodkor bounced back from their opening day home defeat by Australia’s Adelaide United.
Pohang, meanwhile, failed to reach the heights seen in their 3-0 away win over Japan’s Gamba Osaka two weeks ago.
“I thank all the players because they did everything we told them to do,” said Bunyodkor coach Mirdjalal Kasimov.
“It is not easy to play a team like Pohang Steelers away from home. Cho Chan-ho, Ianis Zicu and Park Sung-ho played well for Pohang but we played to our plan.
“We came to Pohang to win and we got a good result and I am happy.”
The visitors took the lead in spectacular fashion after 28 minutes as Turaev raced onto a lofted ball forward from Jan Kozak, and after letting the ball bounce once just outside the area, the midfielder rifled an unstoppable half-volley past the despairing dive of Shin Hwa-yong and into the bottom corner.
Pohang came close to an instant response as Shin Kwang-hoon headed against the crossbar before Bunyodkor’s Australia international midfielder David Carney drew a full-length diving save from Shin.
Bunyodkor sat back in the second half, but after comfortably absorbing Pohang’s attacking threats, sealed the win with 13 minutes remaining through Murzoev.
Carney played a seemingly hopeful ball forward down the left, but Murzoev first showed superb control to bring the ball down on his chest before holding off Kim Won-il to fire past Shin.
“We were not able to reach our goals, but we tried our best,” said Pohang coach Hwang Sun-hong.
“We prepared hard and our plan was to attack more down the sides than in the centre, but this led to the defence playing a higher line which led to a weakening at the back.”