Hot Duric saves point for Stags in Hanoi

Source

Tam Cheong Yan
info@sleague.com

Aleksandar Duric scored his third goal in as many AFC Cup games to rescue a 1-1 draw for Tampines Rovers against Hanoi T&T in a Group G match on Tuesday afternoon.

The veteran forward sent a free kick past T&T goalkeeper Duong Hong Son with eleven minutes remaining, earning Tampines a point after they were trailing to a first-half Nguyen Van Quyet strike.

The result kept Steven Tan’s side in second place in the group, two points behind Thai side Muang Thong United, who needed an injury-time goal to see off Victory SC of the Maldives by a 1-0 margin.

T&T, who travel to Singapore in two weeks’ time, are a further point behind the Stags in third place, while Victory occupy bottom place with no points earned so far.

After being soothed by cool weather in their first two days in Hanoi, Tampines were caught by surprise when temperatures went up significantly on the day of the match.

The poor state of the Hang Day Stadium field made it even more difficult for the 2010 S.League runners-up to settle down, and they faced significant pressure from their hosts, who were hoping to overtake them into second place with a win.

Hassan Sunny and his defenders were put to work early on by the T&T side, with Vietnam international Le Cong Vinh and Argentine import Gonzalo Marronkle impressing in their first AFC Cup appearances this term.

The duo combined to set Nguyen up for the opener on 27 minutes, after the Tampines midfield had failed to close down a move that allowed the T&T players to press forward.

Ten minutes before the break, the midfielder had a chance to double his personal tally for the day, but contrived to smash his shot into the post.

Hassan was also kept busy, putting on a match-winning performance at the back as the Stags maintained hopes of a comeback.

The introduction of Aliff Shafaein in place of defensive midfielder Shukor Zailan just before the hour mark helped turn the tide for Tampines, and the hosts began to make a number of errors as they faded in the second half.

Duric was unlucky not to beat Duong on 67 minutes after pouncing on a defensive error by Nguyen Tien Dung, but he was to have his moment when Aliff was fouled on 79 minutes.

A heavy challenge that resulted in a sore rib for the diminutive forward prompted referee Pratap Singh Patwal to give a free kick, even though Tampines players were convinced the foul was inside the penalty area.

Duric made little of the difference, though, as he curled his effort superbly beyond Duong’s reach to put the visitors on level terms.

Buoyed by the goal, Tampines went all out in search of a late winner, and Ahmed Fahmie, who had replaced Aliff five minutes from time, forced a reflex save out of Duong.

But the inability to score a second goal that would have claimed full points left Stags team manager Zulkarnaen Zainal chewing on what could have been when he spoke to sleague.com.

“The group is still open, but we should have beaten Muang Thong and Hanoi here to go forward,” said the 37-year-old.

“If we won those two games, we would have gotten nine points. But those two games did not work out for us.”

The former Stags stalwart also reassured that Aliff’s rib injury was not serious, which means the latter is likely to be involved in the team’s next S.League match on Sunday.

“Aliff’s not bad, it’s nothing serious, he could eat just now when we came back from the game,” reported Zulkarnaen.

“He was the only one who got injured at all, although we were sure he was brought down in the penalty box. It was a hard knock, but I think that’s all.

“He should be fine when he gets back to Singapore. I think he won’t even need a check with a doctor.”

Hanoi T&T: Duong Hong Son; Nguyen Quoc Long, Nguyen Tien Dung, Cristiano Roland, Nguyen Van Bien; Nguyen Ngoc Duy, Le Hong Minh, Nguyen Van Quyet, Cao Sy Cuong (Thach Bao Khanh 54’); Le Cong Vinh (Matias Recio 79’), Gonzalo Marronkle.

Tampines Rovers: Hassan Sunny; Seiji Kaneko, Benoit Croissant, Park Yo Seb; Imran Sahib, Shukor Zailan (Aliff Shafaein 59’, Ahmed Fahmie 85’), Akihiro Nakamura, Shahdan Sulaiman, Ismadi Mukhtar; Ahmad Latiff Khamarudin (Jamil Ali 74’), Aleksandar Duric.