Misfiring Saif Sporting fall short

Despite putting up a dominant display for the majority of the match, misfiring Bangladesh Premier League outfit Saif Sporting Club conceded a narrow 1-0 defeat against visiting Maldives giant TC Sports in their debut AFC Cup encounter in the event's preliminary stage at Bangabandhu National Stadium in Dhaka Tuesday afternoon. Saif Sporting must now beat the Maldives league runners-up in the away game, scheduled to be held Tuesday, in order to move to the tournament's next stage of the play-offs. Their head coach Ryan Northmore however, is confident of overcoming the challenge, backed by their second-half performance. Kyrgyzstan national forward Vlasichev Anatoli, who was signed in the Asian quota for the AFC Cup, had only four training sessions with TC Sports. But it was him who netted the all-important goal from a half chance. With that said, the visiting side failed to create any more notable chances in the rest of the game. Following an average opening half, Saif Sporting appeared a different side after resumption, creating half-a-dozen chances, including hitting the bar on three occasions. As Northmore said in the post-match press conference, "Unfortunately, luck was not with us. There were so many opportunities to equalise, so many chances to score but what counts at the end of the day is goals." Only four players - Topu Barman, Jamal Bhuiyan, Rahmat Mia and Charlie Sheringham - from Saif Sporting's latest premier league squad managed to get into the starting XI, along with four loanees from Chittagong Abahani Limited - Ashraful Islam Rana, Sushanto Tripura, Masuk Mia Joni and Zahid Hossain, Kingsley Chigozie from Mohammedan Sporting Club Limited, Umarjonov Akhror in the Asian foreigner quota and Deiner Escarpeta, who returned to the squad after being released during the mid-season transfer window. Versatile defender Deiner was put straight into the heart of the defence, along with Topu and fullbacks Rahmat and Sushanto. Kingsley started as a central forward with Umarjonov just behind him while Charlie and Zahid played on the wings, and Jamal and Joni in the centre of midfield. Lack of understanding between the regular and loanee players was evident during the opening half of the match where Saif Sporting rarely created any notable scoring chances with most of the attacks ending outside the opponent’s penalty area due to incomplete passes and positional gaps. The home side also couldn't take full advantage of tall attacking duo Charlie and Kingsley's ability of scoring from set pieces. Zahid took almost all the set pieces in the first half but they turned out to be ineffective inside the danger zone. Northmore informed that Zahid played with a back injury and struggled with his movements. Vlasichev Anatoli put the Maldivian outfit ahead in the 23rd minute after outwitting his marker before placing home past Rana from the top of the box, capitalising on a quick pass from Ishan Ibrahim. The host’s first went close to grabbing the equaliser in the 33rd minute when Joni's cheeky effort from the left side of the box went inches wide off the far post. Winger Mohammad Abdullah replaced Zahid during the break as Saif Sporting began the second half on a brighter note, putting pressure on the opponent’s defence from the very first minute. In the 49th minute, Deiner fired over the crossbar with a right-footed volley from outside the six-yard box following a cross by Abdullah from the right flank. In the 57th minute, Jamal unleashed a strike from 20 yards out but it was saved brilliantly by TC Sports goalkeeper Asnin Dzmitry, who dived to his left. Saif Sporting piled more pressure in the rest of the half but were unlucky to see three of their promising attacks end up hitting the crossbar. Deiner saw his eye-catching bicycle effort from the middle of the box hit the woodwork at the hour mark before Umar's shot on the rebound was blocked by a crowded defence. Abdullah almost gave the host the equaliser two minutes later when his free-kick hit the crossbar before Charlie sent the rebound over the bar from an unmarked position. Kingsley had a great chance in the 82nd minute when the Nigerian, snatching defender Alaaeldin's backheader, chipped over onrushing keeper but his effort hit the woodwork.RESULTSaif Sporting 0 1 TC Sports (Anatoli 23)  BULLET POINTS* The game was the AFC Cup debut for both the clubs as Saif Sporting were formed less than a year ago while TC Sports began their top-flight journey four years back. It was also the international debut for Saif Sporting's head coach Northmore. * Four players from four different continents filled up Saif Sporting's four-foreign quota in the starting XI - Charlie from England (Europe), Deiner from Colombia (South America), Kingsley from Nigeria (Africa) and Umarjonov from Kyrgyzstan (Asia). * The host's starting XI comprised five players from the club's premier league squad - five loanees from Chittagong Abahani and Mohammedan and one as an Asian foreign recruit for the AFC Cup.