APL

Oqaban Hindukosh won an important victory over Mawjahi Amu today, in front of a packed AFF Stadium. With this win, Oqaban now dominates Group A standings with four points and have a strong chance of advancing past the group stage of the comptition.

As soon as the game started Oqaban instantly found cracks between Amu’s defense and challenged Amu on multiple occasions in the opening half.

Mehdi Behzad turned out to be one of the key players for Oqaban for this match. At the 30th minute mark Mehdi sent a precise curled cross to Zamary Salangi in Amu’s box but unfortunately Zamary couldn’t bring into the net.

But Behzad was relentless; at 38th minute of the game Behzad again fired a powerful shot that went just centimeters over the crossbar, electrifying the stadium. The level of energy and excitement among fans was unbelievable.

The first half ended scoreless and both teams returned to the tunnels frustrated at the stalemate.

During the half time the action didn’t stop on the green, despite the weather threating rain Afghan superstar Aryana Sayeed came out and gave a great performance. The AFF Stadium exploded with joyous fans cheering-out-loud along with Aryana’s Sayeed’s lyrics. We are sure that the whole Kabul heard this.

The football action resumed in the second half, with Amu setting a fast pace and Oqaban throwing up a spirited defense, trying not to give any chance to Amu’s strikers.

And that chance came within the opening minutes of the second half! Amu’s Masood Qarizada found himself in Oqaban’s box, ahead of the defense but tragically missed his golden chance to score. The ball was skillfully sent out of the bounds by Oqaban’s goalie Safiullah Osmani.

Finally, Oqaban’s Basir Habir broke the deadlock and skillfully dribbled past Amu’s defense at the edge of the box to score a perfect goal for his side at 86th minute mark. This last minute goal created great excitement in the stadium, with fans of both teams cheering for a strong finish to the game.

At the end of the 90th minute the game ended 1 – 0, with Basir Habir score at the 86th minute clinched the victory for Oqaban and paves the way for them to reach the Semi-Finals.

All of the group stage matches will start at 4:00 pm this season. The matches will broadcast live on TOLO TV, Lemar TV, Arman FM and Arakozai FM.  It will also be watchable on the RAPL YouTube page (www.youtube.com/afghanpremierleague).