Thu, 28 Oct, 2021
Amman: Tournament debutants Al Shorta of Syria advanced to the quarter-finals of the AFC Cup after a 3-0 victory over Singapore’s Home United at the Amman International Stadium on Tuesday.
The Syrian side were gifted an early goal when Home United defender Franklin Anzite turned the ball into his own net after only four minutes.
The visitors pressed for an equaliser after their early setback but they failed to make the most of their possession and they were finally put away when Oday Jafal and Raja Rafe both scored in the final 15 minutes.
"We studied the strengths and weaknesses of our opponents and we went into the game with a dedicated plan. The players performed well and scored three goals to seal the win," said Al Shorta assistant coach Mohamad Al Shaded.
"We will be playing against a strong team in the quarter-finals. We will try to improve in our forthcoming games and I want to congratulate coach Tita Valeriu for his work with the team which has produced great results so far."
The odds were stacked against Home United, who not only had to travel 8,000 kilometres to play the match in Jordan but were also missing captain Shi Jiayi, defender Sofiyan Abdul Hamid and striker Qiu Li due to suspension.
To make matters worse, they made a terrible start to the game, falling behind after only four minutes.
Ahmed Al Omier surged into the Home box on the right but with none of his teammates supporting his run, he could do little but square the ball across the face of goal where Anzite inadvertently turned the ball into his own net despite being under no pressure from any of the Al Shorta players.
Taha Dyab nearly extended the Syrian team’s lead when his shot from range was turned aside by Home goalkeeper Lionel Lewis but the visitors began to get a grip on proceedings and enjoyed a great deal of possession.
Striker Shotaro Ihata went close to an equaliser in the 23rd minute when he got behind the Al Shorta defence but he was closed down quickly by goalkeeper Mahmoud Karkar who turned his attempt wide for a corner.
John Wilkinson then had a great opportunity with a free-kick from the edge of the Al Shorta box but his attempt flew high over the crossbar.
Early in the second half, a dangerous cross from the right by Frederic Mendy just eluded Ihata and Indra Sahdan as the visitors continued to push for an equaliser.
But as they pressed forward, they left huge gaps at the back and Al Shorta threatened to add a second as Qusai Habib blew an attempt over the crossbar and Jafal was denied by a great save by Lewis.
The decisive second would finally arrive in the 75th minute when Jafal received a through ball in space on the edge of the box and fired past an exposed Lewis.
And Rafe would add a third eight minutes from time with a shot on the turn from 12 metres out.
Home United coach Lee Lim-saeng felt that the early goal adversely affected his team’s game plan.
“In the first half, we conceded a goal from a defensive mistake and that affected us a lot," said the Korean.
"I’m disappointed because we failed to make a good comeback and we lost our concentration in the second half. Our performance was not good and we gave the chance to Al Shorta to score two more goals."