Abahani Limited Dhaka Move To Next Round In AFC Cup

Our Sports Reporter

GUWAHATI: A goal in the added times helped Abahani Limited Dhaka to earn a place in the 2019 AFC Cup Inter-Zone Semi-finals after the Bangladesh club edged Minerva Punjab FC 1-0 in Group E encounter at the Indira Gandhi Athletic Stadium here today. The all important goal of the match, which was witnessed by nearly 1000 crowed, was scored Masih Saighani just before the final whistle.

With this, Minerva which made Guwahati their home ground, suffered their first defeat in the tournament. Abahani dominated in the first half through Kervens Belfort, Nabib Jibon and Saad Uddin. They really put heavy pressure on Minerva’s defence. However, Abahani couldn’t finish and Minerva custodian Bhaskar Roy rarely found it difficult to keep the shots fired at him at bay.

Home team made first organized attack in the 41st minute. Moinudeen, who got hold of the loose ball with all the space and time to create a goal, ended up skying the shot from inside the box.

The second half witnessed equal contest from both the sides but the 90 minutes of the game failed to produce any result. As the game was petering out to a draw, Saighani put a terrific header to score in added time to hand Abahani Dhaka the much needed victory.

Also Read: AFC Cup: Minerva Punjab, Abahani Dhaka share points