Terengganu: Cambodian champions PKR Svay Rieng FC made a winning start in the inaugural ASEAN Club Championship Shopee Cup™ after they held on for a 3-2 victory against Malaysia’s Terengganu FC in their Group A opener on Wednesday.
Managed by Spanish tactician Josep Munoz, the visitors made a blistering start to their group stage opener as goals from Gabriel Silva and Pablo gave them a 2-0 lead at the end of the first half in which they registered seven shots on target, compared to Terengganu’s one, and also hit the woodwork once.
A much-improved Turtles saw a glimmer of hope when Manny Ott reduced the deficit with 10 minutes played in the second half, but Min Ratanak’s 86th-minute strike proved to be the winner at Sultan Mizan Zainal Abidin Stadium as Safawi Rasid’s penalty in the second-half added time went in vain.
The Malaysia Super League side were in for a shock as Svay Rieng gained the upper hand in the opener in the 11th minute when a brilliant backheel pass from Cristian Roque dos Santos caught the Turtles defence by surprise and released his compatriot Gabriel who finished past Suhaimi Husin to make it 1-0.
Five minutes later, the Terengganu defence gave away possession cheaply in the attacking third allowing Laos attacking midfielder Bounphachan Bounkong to strike from distance. Though Suhaimi kept out the initial strike, there was nothing the goalkeeper could do to deny the follow-up effort from Pablo.
Things could have turned even worse for Tomislav Steinbruckner’s men at the half-hour mark when Pablo once again had a sight at goal only to be denied by a busy Suhaimi, before Gabriel rattled the crossbar on the rebound.
Pablo once again tested Suhaimi in the 35th minute while, at the opposite end, Akhyar Rashid brushed the side netting at the end of a Terengganu counter attack the following minute as the hosts looked for a lifeline with half time fast approaching.
However, there was no respite for Suhaimi between the sticks as Gabriel forced the 30-year-old into a save in the 42nd minute as he single-handedly kept his side in the game by keeping the score at 2-0 at the half-time break.
It was a much better display from the Malaysians after returning from the interval and they halved the deficit 10 minutes into the second half as Philippines midfielder Ott turned in a cutback from Ubaidullah Shamsul to give his side some fresh hope.
Svay Rieng were forced to commit more bodies behind the ball as Terengganu grew into the game, but Cambodian goalkeeper Vireak Dara remained largely untested as the clock ticked down.
However, their hopes of a comeback were dashed in the 86th minute when substitute Min Ratanak curled a left-foot effort from the edge of the box past Suhaimi to make it 3-1.
It was a tense ending to the game as Dara gave away a penalty for a foul on Nnabuike Chukwu Chijioke and Terengganu captain Safawi made no mistake from the spot in second-half stoppage time.
The Turtles had another penalty overturned after VAR review when the ball hit Kouch Dani's hand inside the box as Svay Rieng held on for the three points.
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