Pune: Pune FC’s dream of making it into the AFC Champions League Group-Stage came to an end with a 0-3 defeat to Vietnamese-side Hanoi T&T FC at the Shree Shivchhatrapati Sports Complex in Balewadi, Pune on Wednesday.
Second-half strikes from defender Sam Gallagher (52nd minute), substitute Nguyen Van Quyet (71st) and midfielder Hector Vaghaun (83rd) saw Hanoi through to the next round of the ACL Play-Offs.
The result now means Pune FC will play in the Group-H of the AFC Cup beginning later in February.
Pune FC had the first best chance of the match in the 19th minute. After winger Anthony D’Souza managed to get into the clear on the left, he drilled a low shot which the Hanoi dkeeper Nguyen Van Cong parried away. The rebound however fell for Gabriel Fernandes who continued run inside the box. With the ball awkwardly falling for the Goan he failed to finish from close range.
Minutes later Gabriel’s shot from the right was once again blocked by the defence after striker Riga Mustapha sent him in the clear.
At the other end, Pune FC custodian Amrinder Singh kept the visitors at bay with two back-to-back saves denying attackers PT Luong and NN Duy.
Both sides failed to break the deadlock going into the breather tied at goalless.
The second half saw Pune FC once again going close in the early exchanges. Medio Arata Izumi saw his cross in from the right cleared followed by Dhanpal Ganesh’s low shot straight into the keeper.
Thereafter, Hanoi took charge of the proceedings and scored the opener seven minutes after restart. Australian defender Gallagher jumped the highest inside the box and headed home Thanh Luong’s corner in from the left.
At the other end, Pune FC kept on pressing ahead in search of the equaliser but were let down by the finishing in the final third.
Midway through the half, the visitors doubled their lead as once again the Pune FC defense was caught napping. Hector, clear on the left, did well to chip a cross into the box and Van Quyet, who timed his run to perfection, did well to head in from close range.
With a two-goal lead to protect, Hanoi fell back and began defending deep not allowing any ball to penetrate. This led to Pune FC’s attacking trio of Gabriel, Riga and Anthony being frustrated with their efforts go abegging.
Into the final ten minutes, the visitors scored once more against the run of play. Sent into the clear on the left by Nguyen Hong Tuien, Hector's outside of the boot shot from the left wing ended up in the net on the far side leaving custodian Amrinder Singh helpless.
