Thu, 28 Oct, 2021
Mandalay: A late goal from substitute Gopinathan Ramachandra gave Malaysia’s Pahang FA a valuable 3-2 away win in their opening AFC Cup Group G game against Myanmar’s Yadanarbon at Mandalar Thiri Stadium.
An early brace from Pahang’s Nigerian striker Dickson Nwakaeme (pictured) in the sixth and 12th minutes had put the visitors into an early lead before Yadanarbon goals either side of half time through a Damion Stewart own goal in the 35th minute and a Djedje Djawa penalty five minutes before the hour mark, which saw Pahang captain Mohd Razman Roslan dismissed, brought the hosts level.
But just as Yadnarbon thought they had earned their first ever-point on their AFC Cup debut, Ramachandra struck on the 89thminute to give Pahang their first AFC Cup victory since April 2005.
“It was a tough game but our players settled down very quickly, which was exactly as I had hoped for”, said Pahang FA coach Zainal Abidin Hassan.
“The goals got us off to a great start but I think it also led to a little too much relaxation in their mindset, letting Yadanarbon back into the game.
“But after the equaliser, we had to play one man down and credit must go to my players, they showed their fighting spirit and found a way to the winning goal.”
Pahang looked to make the most of their opposition’s reorganised back four and had already squandered two early chances when Muhamad Nor Azam Bin Abdul Azih threaded a ball through to Matias Conti, whose shot rebounded into the path of the oncoming Nwakaeme, who finished to give the visitors an early lead.
Just six minutes later Nwakaeme ran at a handful of blue shirts from the top left of the box and left them in his wake as he casually slotted the ball past the motionless Yadnarbon goalkeeper Thiha Si Thu.
Pahang seemed to take their foot off the gas at this stage, seemingly happy to contain their opposition conserving their energy in the heat of Mandalay’s late afternoon sun.
That was until the 10 minutes before the break when a quick swing of the leg from Zin Min Tun caught Stewart off guard as he deflected the ball into his own net.
Yadanarbon started the second half brightly, and were rewarded in the 54th minute, when Shine Thuya, at a standstill over the ball in the Pahang FA box, received a clip to the back of the legs for which Pahang skipper Mohd Razman Bin Roslan received a red card.
Ivorian Djawa stepped up for Yadanarbon and levelled the score with a powerful spot-kick strike.
The home team now buoyed by the advantage of an extra man won a second penalty in the 67th minute. Zin Min Tun, with his back to goal drawing the foul from Mohd Saiful Nizam Bin Miswan.
Djawa struck his second penalty as forcefully as the first but failed to control the trajectory and the ball rocketed high above the cross bar.
Yadanarbon had a number of other opportunities to make it a home win, but when a fine Thiha Si Thu save stopped a close range 89th minute shot from Ramachandra, it looked as if points would be shared. That was until seconds later, when from almost the same position, Ramachandra secured victory for the Malaysian side.
“This match was a close call and early in the game we failed to deal with Conti and Nwakaeme and they proved to be dangerous players,” said Yadanarbon coach Kyi Naing, whose side were defeated in the AFC Champions League preliminary round play-offs by Warriors of Singapore earlier this month.
“The lesson we learned was the same as in our AFC Champions League qualifier, we must not waste our opportunities in future.”
Photo: www.asiana.my