Bali: Borneo FC Samarinda threw themselves an ASEAN Club Championship Shopee Cup™ lifeline following a dramatic 2-1 win over Kaya FC-Iloilo in Group B at Kapten I Wayan Dipta Stadium on Thursday.
The Indonesian side opened the scoring through Mariano Peralta just before the half-hour mark but Kaya levelled when Jesus Melliza fired home with eight minutes of normal time remaining.
However, Borneo won it late on when substitute Dwiky Hardiansyah netted in added time to keep their semi-final hopes alive while also denying their Kaya their first points of the tournament.
Having won their opening Shopee Cup game against Lion City Sailors back in August, Borneo then lost their next two to fall to fourth in the six-team group and they were in desperate need of a win against the Filipino champions.
The home side controlled the possession in the early stages but Kaya gave them a scare in the 15th minute when Shuto Komaki was played down the left and he then found Kaishu Yamazaki in the box who created space for himself before dragging his shot narrowly wide of the right post from 15 yards.
The visitors had a golden chance just moments later when Melliza’s free-kick from deep found Mar Diano in acres of space eight yards from goal but the unmarked defender headed wide of the mark.
And yet another chance went begging soon after when Yamazaki’s miscued shot from distance fell perfectly for Martini Rey in the area but he was unable to divert goalwards as Borneo survived.
The hosts then took the lead in the 28th minute when Stefano Lilipaly played into the path of Peralta as he burst into the left side of the area. The Argentine still had plenty to do but managed to evade Diano and find room for a shot before firing into the back of the net despite the best efforts of Kaya captain Audie Menzi on the line.
Peralta then could have doubled his side’s lead five minutes before the interval when Kaya goalkeeper Walid Birrou’s punch from a Lilipaly corner fell to him on the edge of the area but the his shot flew just wide.
Borneo thought they had a penalty when Kei Hirose was brought down by Mark Swainston but, after the referee had initially pointed to the spot, the decision was reversed following a VAR review.
The Indonesian team came close to adding a second as the hour approached when Christophe Nduwarugira headed Peralta’s free-kick goalwards only to be denied by a fabulous save from Birrou.
As the game drew on, Borneo began to drop deeper as they sought to make sure of the points which, in turn, allowed Kaya to become more of an attacking threat. However, Melliza’s speculative shot from 30 yards out with a little over ten minutes to play only highlighted how they were struggling to break down the opposition backline.
But the equaliser then did arrive in the 82nd minute through a nicely worked team goal as Sherwin Basindanan’s deep cross from the right was cushioned back by Komaki into the path of Melliza who made no mistake with a lovely low finish from just inside the area.
Borneo were not done, though, and they salavged their semi-final hopes as the game entered stoppage time when goalkeeper Nadeo Arginawata’s long kick up field found Lilipaly on the left who played to Peralta who delivered a lovely outside-of-the-boot pass for the onrushing Dwiky to send a first-time left-footed effort into the bottom corner from 20 yards out.
The drama continued with Peralta sent off for a late lunge on Basindanan soon after as his night ended on a sour note, but Borneo were able to hold on for the three points.
Joaquin Gomez’s team will next travel to Vietnam for a crunch clash against table-toppers Công An Hà Nội FC on 6 February while Kaya will round off their campaign at home to Singapore’s Lion City Sailors.
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