Afiq Yunos scored deep into extra time to hand 10-man Singaporean outfit Tampines Rovers a dramatic 2-1 win over India's Mohun Bagan in Tuesday's AFC Cup Round of 16 clash at Indira Gandhi Stadium.

It was a remarkable result for the Stags, given they had Shakir Hamzah sent off early on in the second half. Jordan Webb handed them the lead shortly after, before a blistering effort by Bikramjit Singh levelled the scores in the 72nd minute.

Despite their numerical advantage, Mohun Bagan rarely threatened throughout extra time. Instead, it was the visitors who went on to complete a smash-and-grab win, courtesy of Afiq's late strike.

Tampines are the first club from Singapore to reach the last eight since the competition was expanded to 32 teams in 2009. It was a fitting way for coach V. Sundramoorthy to sign off before he reportedly takes over the reins of the Singapore national team.

Yet, despite being the away team and coming up against a side who beat them 3-1 in January in the AFC Champions League qualifying playoff, the Stags dominated proceedings early on.

Jermaine Pennant had a curling free kick saved by Arnab Das Sharma after seven minutes before Fazrul Nawaz and Webb spurned excellent chances to break the deadlock.

Nonetheless, the best opportunity of the first half did fall the hosts' way. Jeje Lalpekhlua met a corner with a glancing header that was destined for the bottom corner, only for an alert Ismadi Mukhtar to clear off the line.

Tampines were then dealt a blow nine minutes after half-time when, moments after being booked, Shakir got into a tussle with Subhash Singh and received a second yellow from referee Turki Mohammed.

Yet, just two minutes after the hour mark, it was Tampines who went ahead in fortuitous fashion. Webb miscued a cross from the right only to see it creep in under the bar beyond Arnab's despairing dive.

The goal did finally jolt the hosts to life and Izwan twice had to be alert to keep out headers from Dhanachandra Singh and Tirthankar Sarkar.

Mohun Bagan eventually found the equaliser in the 72nd minute. Bikramjit was inexplicably allowed to drive forward and steady himself before unleashing a ferocious 30-yard drive that seemed to surprise Izwan, who got a hand to it but was unable to keep it out.

It seemed as though the momentum had now swung in favour of the Mariners yet it was their opponents who could have won the game inside the 90 minutes. Afiq made a mess of a free header from an Irwan Shah cross, while Pennant broke through on goal but hesitated only to see his shot blocked by Kingshuk Debnath.

In extra time, the hosts looked strangely lacklustre. It did appear as though the Stags would be able to hold out and take it to the lottery of the penalty shootout.

Then, with four minutes remaining, Pennant lined up a free kick on the left. With everyone expecting an aerial delivery, he cleverly played a low ball into the box to find Afiq, who met it with a sublime first-time shot into the far corner to seal a remarkable victory for Tampines.

Mohun Bagan: Arnab Das Sharma, Raju Gaikwad, Luciano Sabrosa, Kingshuk Debnath, Dhanachandra Singh, Kean Lewis, Lenny Rodrigues (Souvik Chakraborty 65'), Bikramjit Singh, Tirthankar Sarkar (Abhishek Das 85'), Jeje Lalpekhlua, Cornell Glen (Subhash Singh 40')

Tampines Rovers: Izwan Mahbud, Ismadi Mukhtar, Fahrudin Mustafic (Kwon Jun 101'), Afiq Yunos, Shakir Hamzah, Izzdin Shafiq, Noh Rahman, Jordan Webb (Fabian Kwok 67'), Jermaine Pennant, Hafiz Abu Sujad, Fazrul Nawaz (Irwan Shah 79')

Source:
courtesy of ESPNFC

by Gabriel Tan

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