Frederic Mendy starred in Home United’s come from behind 3-1 win over Yangon United at the Bishan Stadium on Wednesday night. With that result, Home United secured three precious points as they edged closer to Chonburi FC, who were held by Hong Kong’s Citizen in another Group G tie in the AFC Cup.
It was a game of two differing halves as there was not much goal mouth action in the opening period. Mendy had the best chances for the Protectors as he saw two of his headed attempts went narrowly wide. Yangon United also came close through Yan Aung Kyaw, Mladen Ristic and Kyi Lin with decent half chances.
Yangon eventually drew first blood after some sloppy defending by the Protectors. Yan Aung Kyaw, who had been impressive all night alongside Kyi Lin, set Mladen Ristic up as the Serbian coolly chipped the ball over Lionel Lewis on 37 minutes to send the some 1,500 Burmese fans into a frenzy. The defensive lapse allowed Mladen all the time in the world to find a good spot as he pulled the trigger for the opening goal. The Burmese side could have increased that lead before the break but woeful finishing in front of goal meant that they could only hang on to the slim lead going into the half-time break.
Home United came out for the second half with renewed fire in their belly, and almost drew level immediately. A free kick by Singapore International Qiu Li seemed destined for the top right hand corner until it cannon off the upright, with Yangon’s goalkeeper Naing Zayar Tun beaten as he grasped at thin air.
Yangon sat back in a bid to defend their slim advantage by adopting counter-attacking plays in an attempt to catch Home United out. It was a strategy that was destined for trouble as the Protectors’ relentless pressure upfront duly punished Yangon in a 3-goal medley within a 10 minutes spell which saw Qiu Li’s 70th minute goal as well as Frederic Mendy’s double (74th and 80th minute) to complete the inevitable comeback in the second period.
An elated Home United head coach Lee Lim Saeng who we earlier said was no messiah but can surely get the job done, credited all his players for their efforts and explained that he had no choice but to play some of the players out of their natural position. He expressed his delight as his players showed determination and the will to win in order to achieve the result.
In this group, I must say Chonburi is the better team, but, I don’t want to give up. This is football. We will try our best. Even when we lose our game sometimes, we must make sure that we give our best. Tonight, I want to credit all my boys for achieving this win.
Lee said in the post match press conference.
Home United will travel to Citizen in Hong Kong two weeks from now before taking on Chonburi in the final group game at Bishan Stadium on 8 May 2012.
Other Group G result: Citizen 3-3 Chonburi
|
AFC Cup Group G Table |
|||||||
| Teams |
P |
W |
D |
L |
GF |
GA |
PTS |
| Chonburi |
4 |
2 |
2 |
0 |
7 |
4 |
8 |
| Home United |
4 |
2 |
1 |
1 |
6 |
3 |
7 |
| Citizen |
4 |
1 |
1 |
2 |
6 |
9 |
4 |
| Yangon United |
4 |
0 |
2 |
2 |
3 |
6 |
2 |
Home United lineup:
Lionel Lewis, Jeremy Chiang, Kenji Arai, Sofiyan Abdul Hamid, Shi Jiayi (Captain), Shotaro Ihata, Frederic Mendy, Franklin Anzite, Firdaus Idros, Qiu Li, Nor Azli Yusoff
Yangon United lineup:
Naing Zayar Tun, David Htan, Yan Aung Win, Kyi Lin, Yaza Win Thein, Mladen, Aung Thaik, Khin Maung Lwin (Captain), Nikola Karchev, Payaye Phyo Aung, Yan Aung Kyaw
Home United subs:
Nazri Sabri, Kairuldin Ishak, John Wilkinson, Hafiz Nor, Indra Sahdan
Yangon subs:
Kyaw Dunn, Myo Win Htut, Milan Jovanovic, Laung Sithu, Naing Oo Lwin, Tay Zar Aung, Zin Min Oo
Match officials:
Wang Di (Referee)
Mu Yuxin and Huo Weiming (Assistant referee)
Wang Zhe (Fourth officials)
Photos by Bolasepako.com
