Phnom Penh: Cambodia kept their hopes of reaching the ASEAN Mitsubishi Electric Cup™ semi-finals alive after they came back from behind to defeat Timor-Leste 2-1 at the National Olympic Stadium on Tuesday.
Cambodia were made to work hard for maximum points. After Timor-Leste talisman Joao Pedro opened the scoring for the visitors in the Group A match, goals from Sor Rotana before the interval and Hav Soknet in the 79th minute sealed the win for the Koupreys.
The win leaves them on four points from three games, ahead of a crucial final round showdown with Thailand.
Timor-Leste's first-half display raised hopes of a historic first-ever point in the ASEAN Championship but Simon Elissetche's side ran out of steam in the second half. Despite their valiant effort throughout the group stage, their campaign ended with four straight defeats.
Cambodia started superbly and thought they had opened the scoring inside the first minute when Andres Nieto bundled the ball home after a long throw-in from captain Saret Krya, but it was ruled out by VAR for a foul on goalkeeper Junildo.
After a nervy opening 10 minutes, Timor-Leste grew into the game and took a shock lead in the 22nd minute when captain Pedro left two defenders in his wake before firing the ball into the far corner with his third goal of the tournament.
The Timorese thought they had struck again when Claudio Osorio tapped in from close range after Reth Lyheng failed to hold a cross, but it was deemed to be a foul, sparing the goalkeeper’s blushes.
Junildo was nothing short of sensational with back-to-back saves to keep the Koupreys at bay but he couldn’t do anything about Cambodia’s leveller on 42 minutes. Rotana headed home Yudai Ogawa’s corner to restore parity and end an action-packed first half.
The second half started out just like the first, with Cambodia dominating proceedings. Nieto stung the palms of Junildo with a volley from close-range and then hit the side-netting as he ran through, albeit from an offside position.
Cambodia were left frustrated by a string of spectacular saves by Junildo, with the pick of them being an instinctive save to tip a dangerous Nieto header over the bar. The inspired goalkeeper continued to keep Timor-Leste in the game, spreading himself brilliantly to deny Orn Chanpolin at point-blank range.
But Cambodia’s persistence eventually paid off 11 minutes from time. The ever-involved Nieto brilliantly controlled a long ball and laid it off to Rotana who threaded it to Soknet to tap it in from close range, with what proved to be the winner. It was just reward for all their chances and, were it not for Junildo’s masterclass, Cambodia would have been home and dry much earlier.
Cambodia will next make the tricky trip to seven-time champions Thailand on Friday when only a win would see them have any chance of reaching the last four, while Timor-Leste bow out of the tournament with their heads held high.
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