Ho Chi Minh City: Al Rayyan’s claims for a quarter-final berth in the AFC Futsal Club Championship Vietnam 2017 received a massive boost after the Qatar side grabbed a 2-1 victory over Tajikistan’s Disi Invest on Sunday.
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The West Asian side led from the start, grabbing their first goal inside the first two minutes through Flavio Arantes after the Brazilian-born forward was first to react to Diego Costa’s low driven cross-shot in the area.
The Qataris were made to work hard by a Tajikistan side desperate to remain in the running for a quarter-final berth after their opening day defeat to Nafit Al-Wasat. Disi Invest came close to the equaliser when Bruno Santiago Jonatan charged down the middle before scuffing his shot at the decisive moment.
Both sides continued to battle in a scrappy first half, with Disi Invest carving another good chance with seven minutes remaining, Shavqat Halimov doing well to intercept the ball for Mehruboni Tillozoda to pick his spot, but the striker failed to trouble an alert Ahmad Khalil.
Al Rayyan then came close to doubling their lead when Lucas Oliveira delivered a magical pass to Costa, the striker twisting and turning to find an opening before seeing his effort glance over the cross bar.
Three minutes before the break, Al Rayyan finally extended their lead after launching a swift counterattack spearheaded by Costa who created the space for Oliveira to drill his effort between the legs of custodian Murodullo Alikulov.
The patient and measured approach by both teams continued in the second-half, with the match missing the excitement of clear and decisive chances. The best chance of the opening minutes fell to Costa but the Brazilian’s awkward shot was stopped bravely by Alikulov with his face.
Disi Invest then made the most of their patient build-up to pull one back, when Ali Ibrahim palmed Bruno Santiago Jonatan’s effort directly into the path of Amin Nasrollah Zadeh who made no mistake from close range at the midway mark of the second-half.
With nothing else to lose, the Tajikistan club then deployed the power play strategy in the final three minutes but Al Rayyan displayed iron steel focus and tactical discipline to snatch the precious three points and their second successive victory.
Al Rayyan will face fellow Group B giants Nafit Al-Wasat on Tuesday, though victory for the Iraqis in today's later match against Indonesia’s Vamos FC will see both West Asian teams through to the quarter-finals. Disi Invest will face Vamos FC on the same day.
Carlos Cesar Gago (Al Rayyan Head Coach)
“I am very happy with this result. When you look at the table, we can be very pleased. It was not easy for us today; Disi Invest played an excellent game. But my players were tactically very disciplined. I told the players this morning that we needed to remain focused and you saw today we kept our style and shape throughout.”
Afzali Hosein (Disi Invest Head Coach)
“Personally I think we played very well. As I said before, we are a young team, playing against top Asian teams. Today’s result proves my point that we will continue to learn from each game and improve from this experience. I think this was the best performance from this team so far. We will get better with experience and I can tell you these boys have a very strong future.”
Photos: AFC
Source: the-afc.com