Last-gasp Afiq goal gives Sundram perfect farewell gift

GUWAHATI - 10-man Tampines Rovers gave outgoing head coach V. Sundramoorthy a perfect send-off in his final match in charge of the club with a dramatic 2-1 win in extra time in the last 16 of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Cup against Indian side Mohun Bagan at the Indira Gandhi National Stadium in Guwahati on Tuesday night (May 24).

Bikramjit Singh cancelled out Jordan Webb’s second-half opener to take the game into extra-time, before defender Afiq Yunos struck home sweetly deep into the second half of extra time to seal a massive win for the Stags.

TODAY broke the news last week that the former Singapore international will be appointed Singapore national coach on a one-year deal, with an official announcement due by the end of this week.

And as the five-time S.League champions do not play again until June 11, club chairman Krishna Ramachandra confirmed this would be Sundram’s last game in charge before taking the reins of the national team.

Tampines started the game in blistering fashion and played with great confidence but wasted a series of chances to take the lead in the first half.

Star signing Jermaine Pennant saw a free kick from 20 metres saved in the sixth minute, before national striker Fazrul Nawaz fired a header wide of goal moments later.

Mohun Bagan’s only realistic chance of the half came in the 17th minute when Mariners’ star striker Jeje Lalpekhlua saw a header from a corner cleared off the line, before Fazrul blasted a shot over the bar after Pennant expertly picked him out from the right wing.

The home side suffered a massive blow when Trinadian forward Cornell Glen limped off injured, and Tampines really should have taken the lead towards the end of the half but Canadian winger Webb fired wide of goal following an exquisite through ball from Pennant.

Disaster struck for Sundram’s men in the 54th minute when defender Shakir Hamzah was shown a red card for two bookable offences in the space of a few minutes.

But despite being a man down, Tampines continued to press and took the lead out of the blue just after the hour mark.

Webb sprinted down the right wing and appeared to over-hit a cross into the penalty area, only for Mohun Bagan goalkeeper Arnab Das to misjudge the looping ball and allow it to slip beyond his reach and into the back of the net.

A goal down but a man up, Mohun Bagan threatened and came close to equalising on two occasions only to be denied both times by Singapore international Izwan Mahbud.

But in the 73rd minute, Izwan dealt poorly with a long-range attempt from midfielder Bikramjit Singh and Mohun Bagan drew level.

The game went into extra time but both sides failed to create any clear-cut chances until the 117th minute, when Pennant opted to play a free-kick short into the penalty area and picked out an unmarked Afiq.

The Singapore international took a touch and lashed the ball into the back of the net to send his side into the last eight of the AFC Cup.