Abahani earn AFC Cup playoff spot

A last-gasp header from Brazilian centre-back Danilo Augusto powered Abahani to a 2-1 win over Maldives' Club Eagles in the Preliminary Stage-2 encounter of the AFC Cup at the Sylhet District Stadium yesterday.

The victory took the six-time Bangladesh Premier League champions to a playoff tie against India's Mohun Bagan on August 22 for a place in the South Zone group stage of the tournament.

It was expected that inclement weather would affect the turf at the stadium and it did manage to hamper the natural game of both sides.

However, Abahani used this familiar situation to their advantage and on the muddy surface, the home side, with six foreign players, were ahead of the visitors from the get-go.

The Sky Blues wasted a few opportunities, with Uzbek midfielder Muzaffar Muzaffarov denied twice by Club Eagles goalkeeper Mohamed Shafeeu, while Grenadianforward Cornelius Stewart and Nigerian Ojuku David Ifegwu both fluffed their chances in front of goal.

Cornelius finally made amends to give the Sky Blues the lead in the 21st minute with a header off a well-drilled cross from Ifegwu.

Club Eagles responded with tenacity after the restart and managed to find the Abahani net in the 61st minute but it was ruled out as off-side. However, the visitors did not take much time to level the score, with captain Ahmed Rizuvan volleying home Milovan Petrovic's free-kick in the 63rd minute.

Under the cosh from Club Eagles, Abahani had to shrug off a late scare when a header came back off their post in the 81st minute.

A minute later, Abahani defender Milad Soleimani failed to nod home from close range but their frustrations evaporated when Augusto found the net in the 89th minute off a Muzaffarov corner to seal a playoff spot.