Home United 2 - 1 Victory: Home fightback for Victory

Assad scored the only goal against Home United

Male', MALDIVES -
Peres de Oliviera's fifth AFC Cup goal helped Home United of Singapore maintain their perfect Group D record after coming from behind to defeat Maldives side Victory SC 2-1 on Wednesday.

Ashad Ali took advantage of an error by goalkeeper Lionel Lewis to put Victory ahead after 24 minutes but Indra Sahdan equalised before the break with a well-struck shot from inside the area.

Brazilian playmaker Peres secured the three points five minutes into the second half after slotting home a rebound after his initial shot had been saved by Victory goalkeeper Imran Mohamed.

Victory had began the contest on top and after just three minutes Argentinean forward Marcos Aguirre beat Juma'at Jantan for pace on the right wing and played a through ball to Ashad who shot across the face of the Home United goal.

Home United continued to struggle without injured defender Shunmugham Subramani and Victory continued to create the better chances as Ibrahim Shiyam volleyed across the face of goal and Ismail Mohamed fired wide.

Kengne Ludovick carved out the hosts' first attempt after 23 minutes as his shot from just outside the area was deflected over the crossbar.

But just a minute later Victory took the lead as Ashad headed Ibrahim Shiyam's cross towards goal and the effort was completely misjudged by Lewis, who allowed the ball to creep inside the far post.

Ludovick headed narrowly wide before having his first-time shot deflected over as the home side finally came to life.

And Indra finally imposed himself on the match eight minutes before the break as the Singapore captain collected Rosman Sulaiman's cross and with plenty of time and space on the edge of the area, beat Imran.

Home United began to assert their superiority at the start of the second half and Shi Jiayi fired over from outside of the area before Peres crucially handed the home side the lead.

After collecting a through ball from Ludovick, the Brazilian saw his initial first time effort saved by Imran but reacted quickly to hammer home the rebound.

Despite a disjointed performance, the hosts continued to create the better chances with Ludovick striking the crossbar and Peres and Shi forcing excellent saves out of Imran.

Victory never seriously threatened an equaliser but had a strong appeal for a penalty turned down after Ashad went down following a challenge from Shahril Alias.

Post match, Victory coach Mauroof Ahmed managed a few smiles despite the result.

“It was a good game, where both side tried to play good football.

“We held the ball sufficiently and created chances, but it was Home who won,” lamented the coach on his side’s defeat.

“Nevertheless, the President’s presence lifted the boys as we made sure we not only play for the club, but also more importantly, for the country. ”

Meanwhile, Protectors tactician Sivaji, though delighted with the result, was not entirely pleased with the performance.

“It was a tough match and I have to say Victory gave us a good fight.”

Sivaji also gave his insights into his player’s fitness and heaped praise on Indra.

“Having come off the Super Reds game in less than 72 hours, the lads were tired but I’m pleased with the win.

“Lionel kept the team in games on many other occasions, but it’s only human that he makes mistakes,” said in reference to Victory’s shock opener.

“We need to work harder on getting maximum points, as I felt we had been wasteful trying to play pretty instead of effective football.

“Indra had a good game and I was happy for him and his performance on the night.”

The tactician also sent out a message to the other teams in the group and also to his players, as he concluded: “Having set out our objective to win all home games, we need to win all the other (remaining) games, since only the top-placed side automatically qualifies for the knockout stages.”

Source: The AFC & sleague.com