Kelantan fight back to force AFC Cup draw
Malaysia Super League champions Kelantan had to come from behind to force a 1-1 draw against Maziya in their AFC Cup Group G opener on Wednesday.
By FOX Sports staff
Despite entering the game at the Sultan Mohammad IV Stadium favourites to beat their Maldivian opponents, the Red Warriors fell behind in the 68th minute when Hassan Adhuham poked raced through and prodded the ball past the onrushing Khairul Fahmi.
However, Kelantan skipper Badhri Radzi helped his side avoid an embarassing defeat when he broke down the right 12 minutes from time and fired in a shot that took a wicked deflection and looped over a hapless Imran Mohamed.
In Group H, Great Eastern-YEO's S.League champions Tampines Rovers' late fightback just was not enough as they fell to a 3-2 defeat to Saigon Xuan Thanh at the Jalan Besar Stadium.
It took the visitors 22 minutes to break the deadlock when Christian Nsi Amougou broke into the area and drilled his shot into the bottom corner, before the Cameroonian doubled his tally in the 61st minute when he fired another clinical strike home from the edge of the box.
Pham Thua Chi then added a third in the 84th minute to kill off the tie, but the Stags pulled one back five minutes later when Khairul Amri swept home an Aleksandar Duric cross from close range.
As the clock ticked over into injury-time, Duric reduced the deficit further by heading home a Jamil Ali cross, but it proved to be too little too late for the hosts.
Over in Group C, Iraq's Duhok, inspired by a Salih Sadeer brace, cruised to a 3-1 win at Al Shab Ibb, while Dhofar of Oman had to hold off a stirring fightback by Jordan's Al Faisaly to emerge 3-2 victors at the Amman International Stadium.
An injury-time penalty from Maher Al Sayed handed Al Shorta a 1-0 away win over Al Qadsia in Group D, while Tajikistan's Ravshan fell to a 1-0 home defeat against Al Ramtha in a battle between two AFC Cup debutants, thanks to Al Lahham's 68th-minute winner.
Wednesday's AFC Cup Results
Group C
Al Shab Ibb 1-3 Duhok
Al Faisaly 2-3 Dhofar
Group D
Ravshan 0-1 Al Ramtha
Al Qadsia 0-1 Al Shorta
Group G
Kelantan 1-1 Maziya
Group H
Tampines Rovers 2-3 Saigon Xuan Thanh