AFC - Islamic Republic of Iran’s Mes Sungun Varzaghan sailed to a 9-1 win over AGMK FC of Uzbekistan to secure their spot in the AFC Futsal Club Championship Indonesia 2018 quarter-finals on Saturday.
AGMK dived into the game with intense man-to-man marking and even matched their fellow Central Asian rivals’ intense pressing in the opening minutes.
While they looked to have the better opportunities in attempts on goal, it was Mes Sungun’s Mortteza Ezzati who opened the scoring in the fifth minute from a corner set-piece, his second goal of the tournament.
Whenever AGMK’s defence showed weakness, Mes Sungun would pounce on them, and four minutes later, Hossein Tayebibidgoli took advantage of a scramble in the box and found the back of the net, before scoring his second less than a minute into the restart.
Tayebibidgoli, the 2018 AFC Futsal Championship top scorer, turned provider in the 13th minute as he fed Ali Asghar Hassanzadeh who struck cleanly into the bottom right corner.
A minute later, AGMK moved on a counter-attack that saw Akbar Usmonov surging down the right flank where he then beat goalkeeper Alireza Samimi to reduce their deficit.
Mes Sungun’s teamwork was impressive as their movement and passes around the court kept AGMK guessing, and Saeid Taghizadeh etched his name on the scoresheet with a simple shot to the bottom right corner in the 17th minute when he found gaps in their formation.
While they were impressive as a unit, skipper Farhad Fakhim also displayed impressive dribbling footwork in the final third as he outmaneuvered two AGMK players in the 19th minute and his strike made it 6-1 going into the break at the Gor UNY.
Hamid Bigham Tabriz’s charges proved that they were deadly in set-pieces once again, as Tayebibidgoli completed his hat-trick 27 minutes into the match, before Abolghasem Orouji released a strike to claim a seven-goal lead at the half-hour mark.
In the final 10 minutes, AGMK held a solid defence and while their runs across the half-line mark showed signs of life, they lacked the finishing touch.
However, despite their best efforts, Tayebibidgoli had the final say in the match with his fourth goal of the tie in the closing 40 seconds to secure an emphatic win.
Mes Sungun will look to keep their unbeaten streak against Lebanon’s Bank of Beirut, while AGMK FC seek to end their Group D campaign with a win against FC Sipar of Tajikistan on Monday.
AGMK FC Head Coach Aleksandr Petrov:
"It was our worst game, but congratulations to Mes Sungun. We have to come to the pitch with everything we have in our last game."
Mes Sungun Varzaghan Head Coach Hamid Bigham Tabrizi:
"This was a good game. We knew their team would come with a certain purpose and we tried to control the game, as well as scoring. Our target is to qualify as the group winners. While we respect our opponents (Bank of Beirut), we have some strategy prepared for them."