Pahang hammered at Mongkok Stadium

* South China too strong for Pahang

It was a nightmare outing for Pahang at the Mongkok Stadium in Hong Kong in a Group G match in the AFC Cup competition on Wednesday when South China walked away with a 3-1 to keep their place at the top of the group.

The Hong Kong outfit are unbeaten thus far and have confirmed their place in the Round of 16.

Despite the loss, Pahang remained second at the table with four points – same as first timers Global FC who registered their first win in the competition with a big 4-1 win over Myanmar’s Yadanarbon FC who ended the match at the Rizal Memorial Football Stadium in Manila with only nine players.

Pahang are still in the running and must beat Yadanarbon at home and hope for South China to win against Global FC. 

It was testing time for Pahang at the Mongkok Stadium. 

Having lost to South China 1-0 at home in the first round, Pahang fell behind as early as the 10th minute. The ball criss-crossed inside the penalty before Chan Siu Ki put the finishing touches with a well executed shot.

That was the only goal in the first half.

But any hope of a Pahang fightback evaporated in a three-minute spell which began in the 53rd minute. Pahang’s tough tackling Jamaican defender Damion Stewart was not able to cut off a raid and Lo Kong Wai sped through his marker and drilled home a grounder past the on-rushing Pahang keeper Khalid Azhan to the far corner for South China’s second goal.

Three minutes later it was 3-0 for South China when Jack Sealy rifled home into the roof of the net after shrugging off Saifulnizam Maswan. The homesters were in the driving seat.

It could have been 4-0 by the 58th minute but Kong Wai hit the right post with a yawning goal in front of him after Muhammad Nor Azam failed to stop his opponent. The Pahang backline was in tatters as South China came at them firing on all cyclinders. Luckily for Pahang there was no addition to the South China score.

Out of the blue Pahang pulled one back on 62 minutes when Dickson Nwakaeme chested the ball from Matias Conti before planting a left footer past South China goalkeeper Mora Medrano. It remained that way till the final whistle.

Pahang’s next match in the group is against Yadanarbon at home on April 29. South China will also be at home to Global FC on the same day.

AFC CUP RESULTS (Group G) April 15

South China (Hkg)   3   Pahang (Mas)   1

Global FC (Phi)  4   Yadanarbon FC (Mya)  1

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