Tue, 30 Nov, -0001
Nay Pyi Taw: Spanish striker Juan Belencoso struck with 10 minutes remaining as Hong Kong’s Kitchee became the first team to qualify for the last 16 of the AFC Cup with two games to spare after recording a 2-1 win over Myanmar’s Nay Pyi Taw on Tuesday.
Chan Man Fai opened the scoring for the visitors at Paung Luang Stadium after just six minutes only for Argentinian midfielder Carlos Delgado to equalise for the home side after 12 minutes.
But with 10 minutes remaining, Belencoso netted his fourth goal of the campaign to hand Kitchee a third win in Group H and a spot in the AFC Cup knockout stage for a third season in a row.
Kitchee coach Cheng Siu Chung was understandably delighted with his side’s progression especially given the difficult conditions that his players had to perform in.
“We had a good result today so now we are sure of qualifying for the next round,” he said. “As I mentioned before, the weather was too hot and the temperature prevented us from playing very well. Our players were also not satisfied with the condition of the pitch, which was not very smooth.
“Our target now is to reach the quarter final at least and I think that Nay Pyi Taw also can go through to the next round.
Nay Pyi Taw dropped to third place after Tampines Rovers of Singapore trounced Indian side Pune 5-2 to move two points ahead of the Myanmar club.
But coach Myo Hlaing Win is confident that his team can bounce back especially with the return of Italian striker Michele Di Piedi from injury.
“We lost today’s match because we made some mistakes during the game,” said the Nay Pyi Taw coach.
“Although our players are young, strong and energetic, they lack experience of playing at this level. I had to use a young local striker instead of our injured striker Michele De Piedi but he played very well and play the full 90 minutes.
“We still have a chance to qualify so the next game is really important for us. We are going to do good preparation for a must-win game against Pune at our home ground and I hope that De Piedi can come back in time for the next game.”