Tue, 30 Nov, -0001
Male: Arema Indonesia finally got their AFC Cup campaign under way after recording a 3-1 win over Maldivian side Maziya Sports & Recreation on Wednesday.
Hendro Siswanto opened the scoring for the Indonesian side after just 14 minutes at the National Stadium only for Ali Amdhan to pull fellow winless side Maziya level.
But after Argentinian Gustavo Lopez reclaimed the lead for the visitors before half-time, substitute Dendi Santoso sealed the win with 18 minutes remaining as Arema moved up to second place in Group F.
“Even though we won the match, we have seen some areas that we need to improve. We read Maziya very well and scored goals to win the game,” said Arema coach Suharno.
“After taking the 3-1 lead, we concentrated on the midfield and they concentrated very well during the game and I would like to thank them.
“We hope that we can lead the group as we have two more home games and one more away game.”
Arema took the lead after 14 minutes courtesy of a superb solo goal from Siswanto as the midfielder cut back from the byline inside the Maziya area before shooting across the face of goal and into the far corner from a tight angle.
The home side pushed for a quick response and were unlucky not to find one after 20 minutes as only a spectacular save from Arema goalkeeper Kurnia Meiga denied captain Mohamed Ahmed.
But Maziya did not have to wait much longer as Meiga failed to hold onto a free-kick into the area three minutes later, and after Arema failed to clear the danger from inside their own penalty area, the ball broke for Amdhan and the defender fired home.
The home side, though, were back on level terms just seven minutes later as Lopez was allowed space on the edge of the penalty area and the Argentinian found the bottom corner with goalkeeper Mohamed Imran rooted to the spot.
And Arema came close to extending their lead at the start of the second half only for Imran to deny Ahmat Farizi four minutes before the hour mark.
But after failing to find a way back into the contest, Imran was finally beaten for a third time with 20 minutes remaining as Santoso’s strike from the edge of the penalty area found the back of the net via a deflection.
Maziya did have a chance to set-up a tense finish, but Arema goalkeeper Meiga was on hand to smoother the danger to deny Mansaray Abu and Asadhulla Abdulla.
“I am not happy with the result as well as the performance of my team,” said Maziya coach Ismail Mahfooz.
“At this level, especially when we are playing a home game, all our players have to give 100% and today the performance from my players was not as I expected.
“We have to concentrate during the 90 minutes and perform very well on the field as a team, but today our performance was not like that.”