Tue, 30 Nov, -0001
Melaka: A brace including a stoppage time goal by AlQuds Hilal substitute Alaa MA Roma helped secure the Palestinian club’s first win and send Dordoi of Kyrgyzstan packing from the AFC President’s Cup 2013 Final Stage in Malaysia.
The loss was the second upset for Dordoi following their 1-0 surprised defeat at the hands of KRL Football Club of Pakistan in their campaign opener on Monday.
Both teams tried to maintain possessions before Dordoi had a good chance to open the scoring when striker David Bruce Tetteh was one-on-one with AlQuds goalkeeper Khaled H Azam in the box but he kicked it well above the goal post 16 minutes into the game.
ALQuds then had two chances attacking from the box in the space of two minutes but the weak delivery was easily stopped by Dordoi goalkeeper Pavel Matiash.
Tetteh again had a chance after 26 minutes to open the scoring with only a defender blocking him in front of goal but his header was too soft and rolled easily on the ground for Azam to stop it.
Dordoi midfielder Avazbek Otkeev had a close chance on 43 minutes when he struck the ball from the right side but keeper Azam tapped it away and the ball hit the post and went out of play, awarding Dordoi a corner kick.
Otkeev took the corner kick but the ball was headed into the post and went out of play again much to his frustration.
Otkeev finally got his moments when he was fouled by Tamer OM Salah and midfielder Davron Askarov took the free kick feeding Otkeev who kicked the ball flying closely past keeper Azam’s head into the net in first-half stoppage time to claim the 1-0 lead.
The second half started with a chance for AlQuds to make a goal as defender Husam Abusalah made a free kick from the right side on 52 minutes that connected with striker Mohammed Al Badan but his Al Badan’s attempt went above the post.
AlQuds’s efforts to equalise paid off as midfielder Hisham KI Salhi received a pass from the middle and faced with heavy guarding sent the ball into Dordoi’s net making the scoreline 1-1 after 57 minutes.
Mirlan Murzaev had an opportunity on 63 minutes to regain the lead for Dordoi when he was one-on-one with goalkeeper Azam with two defenders chasing closely behind him but he failed to convert the chance.
On 85 minutes, the pivotal moment for ALQuds began as Roma scored his first goal in the match taking the scoreline to 2-1. However, just six minutes later, within the first minute of stoppage time, Dordoi equalised to 2-2 through substitute Tursunali Rustamov’s goal.
As the game looked heading towards a 2-2 draw, Roma, capitalising on the mistake of Dordoi goalkeeper Matiash caught unawares near the centre circle, sprinted down the right side of the field and scored his second and AlQuds’ third goal on 90+3 minutes.
AlQuds face KRL in the last match of Group B on Friday whose winners will advance to the final against the leaders of Group A on Sunday.
Photo: WSG