Thu, 28 Oct, 2021
Malang: Arema Indonesia coach Dejan Antonic felt that the floodlight failure during his team’s AFC Cup quarter-final against Al Ettifaq on Tuesday had an adverse effect on his players as they lost 2-0 to the Saudi club in the first leg.
The game was goalless in the 51stminute when the Gajayana Stadium was plunged into darkness. It took more than 20 minutes before the floodlights could be restored and play could be resumed.
However, it would not be a good night for the home side as goals by Yahya Al Shehri and substitute Zamil Al Sulim ensured that the visitors will take a healthy advantage into the return match in Dammam next Tuesday.
Antonic was in little doubt that the stoppage had a negative effect on his team.
“It was very troubling when the lights went out in second half. It affected our players as they had to warm up again during the stoppage and we had to try to regain our focus when play finally resumed,” said the Serbian.
“We tried hard to play our best after the delay but it was always going to be difficult against a good team like Al Ettifaq.”
But while Arema have a mountain to climb in the return game, Antonic is not about to throw in the towel.
“It will not be easy to recover the deficit when we play in Saudi Arabia next Tuesday but we will try our best to get a good result there,” he said.