Salgaocar knocked out of AFC Cup

MARGAO: For long spells in the first session, extracting your tooth would have been less painful than watching Salgaocar Sports Club wait for Al Wehdat to move forward. Salgaocar adopted a watchful approach at the start and it came as no surprise since they were demolished 0-5 in the away clash and had three of their key players -- all foreigners -- missing.But what hurt almost everyone was the manner in which an unfair Al Wehdat were content in just playing the ball amongst themselves, in their own half, and barely a metre away from each other.
Al Wehdat had taken an early lead and seemed happy with that until Salgaocar, reduced to ten men early in the second session, fought back to equalize and eventually go down fighting 1-2 in a group 'D' AFC Cup clash at the Nehru Stadium in Fatorda on Tuesday.
The win killed even the remotest possibility of Salgaocar making it to the knockout stage of the competition and will now have to play the remainder of the two matches only for pride. The Jordanians, however, took another giant step towards qualification.
Whenever either of the two teams moved forward -- either on a counter or planned -- they seemed a treat to watch. Al Wehdat were clearly the better of the two sides as their slick-passing caused plenty of problems, but whenever Salgaocar counter-attacked, especially from the right, the rival citadel never appeared safe.
Too bad then, neither of the two teams looked to attack.
Al Wehdat's eighth minute goal was a classic build up and an exquisite finish to match. Mahmoud Shelbaieh collected a ball from the centre and did well to resist the attention of his marker before unleashing a through ball for Amer Abuhwait. The striker slipped in from nowhere and before goalkeeper Karanjit Singh could figure out whether he had to move forward or stay behind, Abuhwait had directed the ball into the net from an acute angle.
Salgaocar's problems were compounded when defender Khelemba Meitei picked up his second yellow card and had to be sent off in the 57th minute. But instead of going for the kill, Al Wehdat offered Salgaocar a way back as they defended lazily, almost hesitatingly.
Salgaocar's equalizer was a lucky one in the 71st minute as Al Wehdat self-destructed. Ishfaq Ahmed showed good presence of mind to intelligently chip a quickly-taken short corner at the far post when the defenders were distracted and the goalkeeper lost focus.
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