Selangor brought their 3-game losing streak to a halt after overcoming Sheikh Jamal Dhanmondi 4-3 in their AFC Cup Group E encounter at the Bangabandhu National Stadium in Dhaka, Bangladesh earlier tonight.
Sheikh Jamal DC head coach Shafiqul Islam Manik fielded a similar team to the one that played against Ceres La Salle, with the likes of Landing Darboe, Emeka Onuoha and Wedson Anselme in the starting line-up. Selangor head coach Zainal Abidin Hassan, who has been under pressure lately after a run of poor results, made a few changes including playing Azrif Nasrulhaq on the right wing and S. Veenod partnering Nazmi Faiz in midfield.
The Red Giants started the game brightly from the get go in an empty stadium with a poor quality of grass with Mauro Olivi blasting the ball at goal from 15 yards out, but his powerful strike was blocked by Mohammad Linkon before R. Gopinathan’s effort was saved by Sohel.
A few minutes later, Mauro Olivi headed Patrick Ronaldinho Wleh’s cross and Sheikh Jamal goalkeeper Shahidul Sohel made his second save of the game as it was directly at him.
Mauro Olivi managed to find the back of the net on the 12th minute but the Argentinian was ruled offside after running a second too soon to receive Azrif Nasrulhaq’s brilliant pass.
The former Colo-Colo striker attempted two shots in quick succession from outside the box, but both of his efforts went a few yards off The Yellow Fear’s goal. Mauro Olivi has taken four shots in the space of 22 minutes as he looked extremely hungry to get on the scoresheet.
The home side shocked the visitors after Landing Darboe scored from 25 yards out to take the lead in the AFC Cup group stage match. The Gambian international scored Sheikh Jamal Dhanmondi’s first goal of the campaign and Zainal Abidin Hassan was visibly in disbelief.
The 2015 Malaysia Cup champions finally equalized on the 38th minute with Patrick Ronaldinho Wleh heading in his eighth goal of the season after a good cross from Mauro Olivi. There were signs of relief on most of the faces of the Selangor players.
After the break, Selangor took the lead through R. Gopinathan on the 53rd minute after a great pass from Liberian international Patrick Ronaldinho Wleh. Zainal Abidin and his staff rejoiced as they were looking for their first win in the 2016 AFC Cup.
However, Sheikh Jamal scored two goals in two minutes to regain the league on the 64th and 65th minute respectively. Emeke Onuoha made it 2-2 with a header from close distance before team captain Wedsen Anselme comfortably tucked it past Norazlan Razali in goal.
Five minutes later, Mauro Olivi finally got on the scoresheet after slotting in Patrick Ronaldinho Wleh’s pass to equalize once again for The Red Giants. The Argentinian scored again on the 83rd minute after Shahihul Sohel was poor in stopping the shot from going in.
The referee blew the full-time whistle and seven goals were scored during this game.
Tampines Rovers currently sit on top of Group E with seven points, followed by Ceres La Salle with five points, Selangor with four points and Sheikh Jamal without a single point at all.
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