VB 3-5 TSW Pegasus
Male: TSW Pegasus striker Leandro Carrijo scored four times as the Hong Kong side picked up their second away win in the AFC Cup with a 5-3 win over VB Sports Club at the National Stadium in Male.
Carrijo grabbed a first-half hat-trick as TSW Pegasus raced into a 4-0 lead before skipper Wisdom Agbo was sent-off just before the interval.
However, Mohamed Arif collected his second yellow card of the game as the hosts were reduced to 10 men in the second period and only two late goals for the Maldivians gave the score-line an air of respectability.
Pegasus now move on to six points in Group F, one behind leaders Sriwijaya.
Both teams initially struggled to control the ball on a wet pitch but Carrijo broke the deadlock after 14 minutes.
Lai Yiu Cheong supplied a good ball into the danger zone and the forward made no mistake with a superb header to beat emergency goalkeeper Habeeb Hussain.
Seven minutes later, Carrijo scored his second of the game after again linking up well with Lai as VB skipper Abdulla Haneef failed to stop the Brazilian and he found the back of the net to make it 2-0.
And just two minutes later the prolific striker, who is on loan from fellow AFC Cup participants South China, completed his hat-trick with a low shot from the edge of the penalty area.
VB coach Bahtiyar Can Vanli had seen enough by that point and made an early substitution, taking off Ashad Ali and introducing Adam Lareef.
However, TSW Pegasus made it 4-0 shortly after as Carrijo turned supplier, setting up Lai to fire home.
The home side were given faint hope of a comeback just before half-time when Pegasus skipper Agbo was sent off for his second bookable offence after a foul on Ali Ashfaq.
And just a minute into the second period they reduced the deficit when Ashfaq was brought down in the area and Abu Masaray scored from the penalty spot.
However, VB were soon reduced to 10 men themselves when Arif was shown his second yellow card, prompting Vanli to take off Haneef and bring on Ismail Easa.
Carrijo then scored his fourth of the game with a free-kick that took a deflection on its way in.
That appeared to put the result beyond any doubt but Shamveel Qasim scored with a stunning shot from outside the box and Easa claimed VB’s third goal in stoppage time to ease the pain of the final score-line.
http://www.the-afc.com/en/tournaments/clubs/afc-cup/34315-vb-v-tsw-pegasus
