Kolkata, Sep 23 (UNI) ATK-Mohun Bagan dream run to make into the final of the AFC Cup ended in a heartbreaking result for the Indian fans as the Kolkata side ended the engagement with a 0-6 defeat at Uzbekistan’s FC Nasaf, which roared into next month’s 2021 AFC Cup Inter-Zone Final.
The host played at home comprehensively eliminating Indian outfit ATK Mohun Bagan with a 6-0 win at Markaziy Stadium on Wednesday night.
Nasaf’s 19-year-old striker Khusain Norchaev scored a hat-trick in the first 32 minutes to rise to the top of the tournament scoring charts, with a Pritam Kokal own goal and Oybek Bozorov’s tap in completing the blistering five-goal first half which delighted the home crowd.
Substitute Doniyorjon Narzullaev added a sixth after the break,
putting Ruzikul Berdiev’s side within 90 minutes of their first AFC
Cup Final since winning the title a decade ago, with Lee Man FC of Hong Kong all that stands between them and November’s decider.
Alarm bells were ringing for the visitors almost as soon as the ball
was kicked, with Norchaev stealing possession and forcing
Amrinder Singh into a save within 30 seconds, and it took less than
four minutes for the opening goal to arrive, with Kokal deflecting Carl McHugh’s attempted clearing header into his net following a corner kick.
Norchaev missed with the goal at his mercy after being teed up by
Sherzod Nasrullaev in the 10th minute but, with Nasaf’s off-the-ball
movement on a higher plane, ATK Mohun Bagan failed to heed that
warning, with Norchaev getting in between two prone defenders to poke
home another pinpoint delivery from the left full-back eight minutes
later.
A young striker of some promise, Norchaev was well on the way to his
hat-trick when he poked home his second to punish more sluggish
defending in the 21st minute, and he completed the achievement when he
made the most of a sublime no-look pass from Sukhrob Nasrullaev as
Nasaf went four ahead with only 32 minutes played.
ATK Mohun Bagan earned a rare reprieve when Bozorov slammed a penalty kick against the crossbar after Kotal had fouled Bakhrom Abdurakhimov, but their relief, and Bozorov’s regret, were short-lived as Dilshod Saitov got in behind the overwhelmed defence to set up the same player for perhaps the easiest goal of this season’s AFC Cup to make it 5-0 at half-time.
Having failed to come to grips with their rampant hosts in the opening
45 minutes, ATK Mohun’s Bagan’s thoughts turned to damage limitation;
a task made more manageable by the departure of Norchaev, who was
replaced by Andrija Kaluđerović at the interval.
It was another substitute, Narzullaev, who added the seventh, slamming
the ball into the roof of the net after being sent through on goal by
Marko Stanojević’s pass in the 71st minute,
A fifth successive AFC Cup win emphatically secured, Nasaf can now
look ahead to the October 20 visit of East Zone winners Lee Man, with
another success to take the Uzbek club a step closer to emulating
their 2011 triumph.
UNI PC KK RN