Yangon: Myanmar’s Shan United FC have advanced to the group stage of the inaugural Shopee Cup after a dominant 3-1 victory over Brunei Darussalam’s Kasuka FC in the second leg of the Qualifying Round Play-offs on Wednesday saw them progress 4-2 on aggregate.
The home side opened the scoring inside five minutes at Myanmar National Stadium Youth Training Center when Efrain Rintaro netted from the spot. Htet Phyo Wai then missed a second penalty midway through the half but Rintaro doubled Shan’s lead as half-time approached.
Kaung Myat Thu headed home to make sure of the victory with a little over 20 minutes remaining before Willan dos Santos’s penalty with 11 minutes left proved little more than a consolation as Shan eased into the Shopee Cup group stage.
After the first leg in Brunei finished 1-1 last week, the hosts got off to the perfect start when Rintaro was upended in the box in the third minute before the Brazilian striker dusted himself off and coolly slotted the ensuing penalty down the middle to open the scoring.
Shan continued to push forward as they dominated the opening stages and the pressure told when they were awarded a second penalty in the 26th minute after Wafi Aminuddin handled in the box to deny Khun Kyaw Zin Hein’s goalbound effort.
This time it was Htet Phyo Wai who stepped up instead of his Brazilian teammate, but his low effort to goalkeeper Wardun Yusof’s left was easily saved by the custodian as Kasuka kept their chances alive.
The one-way traffic continued though, and Rintaro went narrowly wide from close range after getting on the end of Khun Kyaw Zin Hein’s low cross from the left.
However, Shan finally doubled their advantage in the 44th minute when Zin Phyo Aung’s cross from just outside the right corner of the penalty area was emphatically headed home by Rintaro from six yards out to leave the visitors with a mountain to climb in the second half.
The champions of Myanmar appeared to take their foot off the gas after the interval but threatened once more in the 64th minute when Mark Sekyi fired over from just outside the area.
But the third goal arrived minutes later after Yusof did well to save from Khun Kyaw Zin Hein only for the rebound to fall kindly to substitute Kaung Myat Thu to head into an empty net.
Kasuka pulled one back in the 79th minute when Dos Santos dispatched from the spot after Zwe Htet Min had fouled substitute Leon Taylor.
But Kasuka finished the game with 10 men after Haziq Kasyful Azim was sent off for a bad challenge with the match into its final few minutes as Shan comfortably saw out the win.
Shan will now take their place in Group A of the Shopee Cup alongside Thailand’s BG Pathum United FC, Terengganu FC from Malaysia, Indonesia’s PSM Makassar and Đông Á Thanh Hóa FC from Vietnam. The winner of the second playoff match between Cambodia’s Svay Rieng FC and Young Elephants FC of Laos will complete the line-up.
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