Terengganu: Malaysia’s Terengganu FC edged PSM Makassar of Indonesia 1-0 in their penultimate Group A fixture on Wednesday to bolster their hopes of making it to the knockout stages of the ASEAN Club Championship Shopee Cup™.
Safawi Rasid scored the only goal of the game from the penalty spot in the second half at the Sultan Mizan Zainal Abidin Stadium to inflict the first defeat in the tournament on PSM, who had begun the day as the group toppers.
However, Wednesday’s results meant that Thailand’s BG Pathum United claimed the top spot with eight points while Terengganu and PSM occupy the next two spots with seven points apiece followed by Vietnam’s Đông Á Thanh Hóa FC, who are fourth with six points.
It sets up an exciting final matchday in the group as Terengganu will face BG Pathum United on the final matchday on 5 February while PSM welcome Thanh Hóa, with all four sides still in contention to make it to the knockout stages of the inaugural Shopee Cup.
Terengganu had to win in order to boost their hopes of progressing past the group stage and unsurprisingly, it was they who took the initiative to find a breakthrough on the penultimate matchday.
After Safawi and Nurillo Tukhtasinov had miscued their efforts in the opening minutes, the Turtles registered their first effort on target in the 25th minute when Ismahil Akinade’s tame effort from 30 yards out was caught comfortably by PSM goalkeeper Reza Arya.
At the other end, Ricky Pratama squandered a gilt-edged opportunity when Rizky Eka Pratama found him unmarked in front of the goal, but the 21-year-old striker failed to hit the target with his shot on the turn.
Reza came to the rescue of the Indonesians twice in quick succession in the 35th minute as he dived low to palm away Akhyar Rashid’s strike from distance before he tipped over a volley by Manny Ott from the edge of the box.
The match continued to be played end-to-end with Victor Dethan testing Terengganu shot-stopper Rahadiazli Rahalim from a tight angle in the 38th minute before Akinade went one-on-one with Reza and lifted the ball over the PSM custodian only to see the ball bounce wide of the target.
Victor then tried his luck from distance in the 44th minute and Rahadiazli held on after spilling the initial effort as the two sides went into the break without a breakthrough.
Nigerian striker Akinade went close again five minutes into the second half as he glanced a Tukhtasinov free-kick past the far post before Akhyar was denied by Rahadiazli after he latched onto a defence-splitting pass from Tukhtasinov and tried to poke it past the keeper from close range in the 57th minute.
The breakthrough finally came in the 65th minute after the referee pointed to the spot when Tukhtasinov's cross hit the arm of substitute Ananda Raehan in the box and Safawi sent Reza the wrong way from the spot to give Badrul Afzan Razali’s side the advantage.
Bernardo Tavares's PSM went closest to finding an equaliser in the 90th minute when Arham Darmawan headed inches wide after rising to meet a cross from fellow substitute Abdul Rahman but they were restricted to a single shot on target in the second half as Terengganu ran out deserved winners.
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