Phnom Penh: Cambodia’s PKR Svay Rieng FC bowed out of the inaugural ASEAN Club Championship Shopee Cup™ in style with a 4-2 win over Shan United FC of Myanmar in their final Group A fixture on Wednesday.
Bounphachan Bounkong, who was robbed of possession for Ye Yint Aung’s opener for Shan, made amends with a double while Cristian also scored twice at the National Olympic Stadium as Svay Rieng finished third in the group with seven points from five matches – only three points behind PSM Makassar who qualified for the semi-finals as the runners-up.
Myanmar National League champions Shan, meanwhile, wrapped up a disappointing Shopee Cup campaign having lost all five of their group stage fixtures.
Shan made a strong start as Ye Yint Aung won possession in the final third and raced into the box only for Svay Rieng captain Takashi Odawara to throw himself in front of the shot only three minutes in.
Svay Rieng, however, were punished for giving away possession again in their defensive third four minutes later - this time, it was Bounphachan who was guilty of the error and Ye Yint Aung curled past Sang Hankhun to find the far corner and pull the visitors into the lead.
The hosts then produced a strong response as Min Ratanak expertly picked out Cristian inside the box and the Brazilian forward rolled the ball into the goal from 12 yards out to restore parity in the 16th minute.
Ratanak was also pivotal in their second goal four minutes later as his cross following a short corner was directed towards the goal by Bounphachan only for Shan keeper Pyae Phyo Thu to save but the Laos international scored off the rebound much to the joy of the home supporters.
Gabriel Silva then forced Pyae Phyo Thu into two great saves before Pep Munoz’s side found a two-goal cushion in the 33rd minute when Bounphachan beat the Shan custodian with a stunning shot from just outside the box.
Nhean Sosidan’s curling free-kick from the right rattled the crossbar in the 44th minute before Bounphachan dragged his shot wide from the rebound as the Cambodians settled for a 3-1 lead at the halfway point.
The 24-year-old Laotian attacker, on a hat-trick, had his shot tipped onto the upright by Pyae Phyo Thu five minutes after the restart but the visitors put on a much-improved showing in the second period to take the game to Svay Rieng.
Shan reduced the deficit in the 75th minute when Moussa Bakayoko closed down Hankhun and the Svay Rieng goalkeeper had to bring down the attacker to deny him a shot at goal. Bakayoko himself stepped up to take the penalty and sent the shot-stopper the wrong way to make it 3-2.
But Svay Rieng restored their two-goal advantage less than a minute after conceding when Cristian bagged his second of the night after good work by Ratanak, who claimed a deserved second assist of the game to help his side finish an impressive Shopee Cup campaign.
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