Kedah 7-0 Hanoi: Azrul stars for Kedah

6 May 2009
Kedah 7-0 Hanoi: Azrul stars for Kedah

AFC CUP 2009
ALOR STAR – A hat-trick by Azrul Ahmad steered Kedah to a comprehensive 7-0 win over Hanoi ACB at the Darulaman Stadium on Tuesday, boosting the Malaysian side’s hope of advancing to the last 16 of the AFC Cup.

The emphatic victory meant that the Malaysian treble winners remained tied on seven points with Hong Kong side Eastern Athletic, who ended Chonburi’s perfect record in Group G with a 2-1 win.

But Kedah’s better record in the head-to-head meetings with Eastern Athletic means that they will progress if they beat Chonburi in Bangkok in a fortnight’s time.

Kedah threw away a two-goal lead in a 3-3 draw with Eastern Athletic last month but made no mistake this time round after building a three-goal lead at half-time.

Despite the absence of the suspended Khyril Muhymeen Zambri and Badrol Bakhtiar, the home side dominated from the start with Faizal Abu Bakar’s corner in the opening minute falling at the feet of Farizal Razali who shot straight at goalkeeper Nguyen Duc Thang.

Kedah broke the deadlock in the 13th minute when Farizal broke through the centre before playing the ball to Azrul, who blasted home a shot from inside the box.

The home side then took full control with a pair of quick goals as Azrul knocked in his second on the half-hour mark before Farizal made it 3-0 three minutes later.

There was no let-up in the second half as Kedah extended their lead when Afif Amiruddin poked in during a 63rd minute melee before Sabre Mat Abu added his side’s fifth five minutes later.

Azrul converted a penalty after he was brought down in the Hanoi box in the 80th minute to complete his hat-trick before Shahrulnizam Mustapa completed the scoring with a seventh deep into injury time.