Group H: Sydney, Hoang Anh Gia Lai settle for draw
Second half substitute Trent Buhagiar scored with his first touch to earn Sydney FC a 1-1 draw with Vietnam’s Hoang Anh Gia Lai in Group H of the AFC Champions League™ 2022 in Ho Chi Minh City on Tuesday.
20/04/2022 10:57:15
Vu Van Thanh had given HAGL a 26th minute lead with a strike from distance before Buhagiar levelled the scores 14 minutes into the second half having just replaced Adam Le Fondre.
The result gives HAGL their first point of the 2022 campaign while Sydney have now drawn both of their games after sharing the points with Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors in their opening clash on Friday.
Sydney were left frustrated when penalty appeals from both Luciano Narsingh and Le Fondre were waved away inside the opening five minutes while Narsingh’s low shot lacked the venom to trouble Huynh Tuan Linh.
Le Fondre then saw his 10th minute header fly just wide of the goalkeeper’s left post following Paulo Retre’s corner as Steve Corica’s side sought an early opener that ultimately never came.
Instead it was Kiatisuk Senamuang’s team who went in front despite not threatening in the first quarter. Van Thanh, however, fashioned an opportunity out of nothing, striding forward 30 yards from goal before firing off a shot that took a deflection before it reached Andrew Redmayne and the ball nestled in the net.
HAGL narrowly missed out on taking a two-goal lead into the interval but for the reflexes of Redmayne, who reacted sharply to push the ball over the bar in first half injury time when Alex Wilkinson deflected Washington Brandao’s cross from the left towards the Sydney goal.
Brandao could have doubled HAGL’s advantage nine minutes after the restart, only for the Brazilian fired wide after Wilkinson had deflected the ball into his path after blocking Van Thanh’s run towards the heart of the defence.
Corica was growing increasingly frustrated and, 14 minutes after the interval, he replaced Le Fondre with Buhagiar. The move paid off within seconds as Buhagiar met Anthony Caceres’ cross from the right, nodding the ball past Tuan Linh.
HAGL continued to threaten, with Nguyen Van Toan heading wide and Brandao pulling a late effort across the face of goal as ultimately both sides were left to share the spoils.
* After the match, Acting President of VFF Tran Quoc Tuan on behalf of the VFF Executive Standing Committee congratulated HAGL Club and encouraged the club with 200 million VND.
Source: AFC
