Thimphu: Substitute Habib-Ur Rehman salvaged a point for K-Electric FC as the Pakistan champions drew 3-3 with hosts Druk United on Tuesday in a lively opening to Group A of the AFC Cup 2016 Playoff Qualifiers.
Rehman scored the sixth and final goal in the 86th minute of an entertaining encounter which saw K-Electric go into the interval with a 2-1 lead thanks to Muhammad Rasool’s double (8th and 45th) either side of Tshering Dorji’s sweetly struck free-kick (21st).
The tide of the match turned in the home side’s favour after the interval thanks to goals from Tshering Wangdi (58th) and Dorji (75th) before Rasool’s late intervention meant both teams had to settle for a share of the spoils.
K-Electric showed the early spark and after forcing a couple of third-minute corners which caused some consternation in the Druk United defence they took the lead in the eighth minute when Rasool latched onto a long ball and chipped the advancing Tshering Dendup, who had misjudged the situation and opted to charge out of his goal line.
The home side levelled in the 21st minute when Aurangzeb fouled Tshering Wangdi just outside area and the resulting free-kick was curled deftly around the wall and past a leaden-footed Ghulam Nabi by Tshering Dorji.
The Bhutanese champions came close to taking the lead three minutes later when Druk United danger man Diwash Subba robbed Irfan Khan of possession but the shot didn’t match the tenacity of the tackle and was conformably saved by Nabi.
The K-Electric goalkeeper’s immediate distribution led to Rasool having a crack at goal but his effort was well wide before the forward should have made it 2-1 to the Pakistan champions after being teed up by lively winger Muhammad Riaz, who was able to create the opportunity after capitalising on a slip from Karma Nidup as the rain lashed down at the Changlimithang Stadium.
The visitors did eventually take the lead and it was from a similar position with Riaz latching onto a free-kick before whipping in a ball from the right with more elevation than his previous cross allowing an unmarked Rasool to head home K-Electric’s second on the stroke of half-time.
Druk United equalised just before the hour mark and once again Diwash Subba was in the thick of things, when he received possession on the left and hooked in a cross which Tshering Wangdi side-footed into the back of the net to bring the home side level.
After seeing his header crash against the K-Electric woodwork, Dorji put his side 3-2 ahead in the 75th minute when he dinked the ball past Nabi following a quickly taken free-kick from inside the Druk United half before coming close to extending the advantage when Nabi’s poor kick out landed at his feet only to see his instinctive snapshot beat the K-Electric keeper but go wide of the open goal.
And the miss proved costly when the visitors earned a share of the spoils with four minutes left to play when substitute Rehman, a 73rd minute replacement for Abayomi Oludeyi, swept in the equaliser after the ball was intelligently cut the ball across the Druk United penalty area from the left and into his path.
The Group A hosts have four days to rest and reflect on the match before taking on Mongolian outfit Khoromkhon on August 15, who kick-off their campaign on Thursday when they face a K-Electric side needing to take all three points following the opening draw.
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Lineups
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