It was a memorable week for the two ASEAN Club Championship Shopee Cup™ clubs who were in action in their respective Asian Football Confederation (AFC) club competitions semi-final first legs.
Singapore’s Lion City Sailors FC defeated Sydney FC of Australia, while Cambodia’s PKR Svay Rieng FC got the better of Indonesia’s Madura United in the AFC Champions League Two and AFC Challenge League respectively to put one foot into the final.
ASEAN United FC recaps this week’s continental matches.
Sailors in dreamland
Lion City Sailors had a dream outing against A-League giants Sydney FC, with the Singaporean side unfazed by the challenge at home in their first-ever continental semi-final.
Dutchman Bart Ramselaar broke the deadlock with a stunning strike from outside the box in the 18th minute to bring out roars amongst the majority of the crowd present at the Jalan Besar Stadium.
Sailors’ German forward Lennart Thy then extended the lead with a wonderful strike of his own, when he expertly brought down a long ball before unleashing a strike into the roof of the net in the 53rd minute.
The 2-0 win now puts the Sailors in the driver’s seat heading into next Wednesday’s (April 16) return leg at the Sydney Football Stadium, with the winner of this East Zone tie earning the right to host the prestigious AFC Champions League Two final.
Svay Rieng stun Madura
Elsewhere, Cambodian Premier League champions PKR Svay Rieng FC were up against Indonesia Liga 1 side Madura United in the AFC Challenge League semi-finals of the East Zone.
It took just six minutes for Svay Rieng to stamp their authority in the tie with a couple of well-taken goals from new signing Breno Caetano and Laotian star Bounphachan Bounkong putting them two goals to the good in the opening exchanges.
Svay Rieng, who also hold a four-point lead at the top of their domestic league standings, continued their relentless onslaught in the second half against a side struggling in the bottom half of Liga 1.
Eventually, their pressure paid off as Gabriel Silva nutmegged his marker in the box before setting up Min Ratanak in the 90th minute to complete a 3-0 victory at the beautiful Morodok Techo National Stadium, and have a firm control heading into next week’s second leg in Indonesia.
Photos: Lion City Sailors FC and PKR Svay Rieng FC
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