Hong Kong: South China continued their perfect AFC Cup run at Mong Kok Stadium on Wednesday night, routing Global FC of the Philippines 3-0 to underline their place at the summit of Group G with a maximum 15 points from their opening five fixtures.
Cheng Lai Hin came off the bench to open the scoring for the home side shortly before halftime, Bojan Malisic doubled the lead with a header ten minutes after the break, and then Daniel McBreen sealed the win for the 2014 semifinalists moments before the final whistle.
The defeat means Global remain on just four points but still with a chance of making it through to the knock out stages if they defeat Malaysian side Pahang FA in their final Group G encounter in a fortnight’s time.
“Five games 15 points, I can’t say any more,” said South China coach Mario Gomez.
“We started slowly as we were missing some players but we have a good team and some young players came in.
“This was a good opportunity for them to get some playing time."
Global had the first chance of the match on 10 minutes. Midfielder Mark Hartmann swung in a curling free kick from the right and an unmarked Misagh Bahadoran planted a firm header towards goal, but South China keeper Cristian Mora managed to collect at full stretch.
Shots were rare, though, with both teams struggling to hold onto possession. South China striker McBreen resorted to dropping back and picking the ball up in midfield in his efforts to force some life into the game.
The tactic almost paid dividends on 33 minutes when the veteran Australian chested the ball back to Lam Hok Hei on the edge of the Global area, but the 23-year-old forward’s volley went soaring over the woodwork.
And McBreen was instrumental when South China finally did break the deadlock on 40 minutes. Neat work by diminutive midfielder Jack Sealy released the 38-year-old down the right, and his low cross was smartly volleyed home from the edge the six yard box by the substitute Cheng on the turn.
Going behind seemed to spark the visitors into life, although South China went two to the good on 54 minutes. Li Ngai Hoi’s inswinging corner from the right was nodded in at the near post by Serbian defender Malisic.
McBreen almost increased the lead on 68 minutes with a blistering volley from just outside the box that look destined for the bottom corner, but Global keeper Patrick Deyto reacted quickly to push the ball around the visitors’ post.
Global upped the pressure into the final quarter of the match, and a series of dangerous crosses fired into the South China box had to be dealt with decisively by Mora.
However, McBreen got the goal his performance deserved two minutes into injury time with an arrowed shot across the face of goal after he was played through on the left hand side of the Global box by midfielder Leung Chun Pong.
“Both teams struggled in the first half, we made some bad passing decisions, but the first team to recover was South China and the standout performance was from their central defenders — they were remarkable tonight,” said Global coach Dan Padernal.
“Now it’s very difficult for us to advance so we must win against Pahang, but we will work hard and hopefully we can make it into the next round.”
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