Muangthong booked their place in the last 8 of the AFC Cup with a comfortbale 4-0 victory over Lebanon's Al Ahed on a wet night Tuesday night at the Yamaha Stadium. The only surprise of the evening was how the scoreline remained goalless at half-time. MTU had a glut of chances in the 1st half, and the combination of spectacular goalkeeping and poor finishing gave the visitors hope of securing an unlikely win.
That hope didn't last long as the tie was effectively over 5 minutes after the break. Two goals from low shots from the edge of the box by Teerasil and Naruphol had the reigning TPL champions in control. Christain added a 3rd on the hour with a free header from a corner and Datsakorn scored a trademark free-kick to finish off the rout 10 minutes from time.
It has to be said that West-Asian teams always struggle with the wet climate of South-East Asia. Had the game been played in the drier climate of Lebanon, I'm sure the result would have been different. The result tonight shows how important it is to finish top of the qualifying group rather than finsihing second.
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