Kota Bharu: Malaysian treble winners Kelantan scored twice in the opening six minutes as they hammered SHB Da Nang 5-0 at the Sultan Muhammad IV Stadium on Tuesday to leapfrog the Vietnamese champions into top spot in Group G in the AFC Cup.
Da Nang arrived in Kota Bharu with a two-point lead in the group but early strikes by Nigerian striker Dickson Nwakaeme and Indra Putra Mahayuddin put the home side firmly in control.
Faiz Subri added a third midway through the first half before goals by Australian forward Dimitrios Petratos and Badhri Radzi after the interval rounded off an emphatic victory.
The victory moved unbeaten Kelantan up to seven points in the group, one ahead of Da Nang and three in front of third-placed Maziya.
“I really didn’t us expect us to win by such a big margin because Da Nang are such a strong team in this group,” said Kelantan coach Bojan Hodak.
“I was surprised that they looked so tired out there and their Argentinian striker (Sebastian Merlo) did not look fully fit.
“But I give full credit to my team because they played well and kept up the pressure from first minute to the last. I am pleased with their performance and happy that my players followed all of their instructions.”
The visitors could have taken a sensational lead within seconds of the opening whistle as Phan Thanh Hung played a through ball to striker Merlo which caught the Kelantan defence cold. However, goalkeeper Khairul Fahmi came off his line quickly to cut down the angle and block the Argentinian striker’s attempt.
Da Nang would rue that miss as Kelantan took the lead in the fourth minute through Nwakaeme who held off a couple of Da Nang defenders on the edge of the box before curling an accurate low shot from 20 metres past goalkeeper Nguyen Thanh Binh.
The Nigerian then helped to set up his side’s second goal just two minutes later, feeding the ball in the box to Petratos who flicked it past a defender towards a completely unmarked Indra Putra who steered the ball easily past Thanh Binh.
Thanh Binh did well to deny Nwakaeme a second goal shortly afterwards but he could do nothing to stop Faiz Subri in the 26thminute as he made a rampaging run through the Da Nang midfield and exchanged a deft one-two with Nwakaeme before firing the ball home.
Nwakaeme continued to torment the Vietnamese side, forcing another fine save by Thanh Binh and then crossing to an unmarked Badhri who wastefully headed over before the interval.
The home side continued to apply the pressure after the break and they were rewarded with a fourth goal just before the hour. A long free-kick picked out Subri on the left flank and he took the ball to the byeline before cutting it back for Petratos to tap into the unguarded net.
Kelantan should have extended their lead in the 70thminute when they were awarded a penalty after Nwakaeme was tripped up by Thanh Binh but Shakir Shaari sent his spot kick wide.
However, a fifth goal would arrive with five minutes left. Badhri attempted to slip the ball through to Petratos but Thanh Binh alertly came out of his box to kick the ball away before the Australian could latch on to it.
Unfortunately for the Da Nang keeper, he was caught in no man’s land as the ball went back to Badhri who chipped it unerringly into the unguarded net from 30 metres.
While Da Nang coach Le Huynh Duc blamed fatigue for his team’s lacklustre display, he also lauded the performances of Nwakaeme and Petrtaos.
“My players are tired after their league match last weekend but I did not expect that we would concede so many goals,” said the former Vietnam international striker.
“I thought that we could have got a draw before the game but Kelantan played very well tonight, especially their two foreign strikers.”
