Myanmar champions Yadanarbon FC got off to a memorable start to their Group H (ASEAN Zone) campaign in the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Cup by defeating Singapore's Home United FC 1-0 at the Mandalar Thiri stadium in Mandalay.
Incidentally, Yadanarbon had finished without a win in their first ever AFC Cup campaign in 2015 and a strike from 20-year-old wonderkid Aung Thu (45+2') handed them a historic win on Wednesday.
S.League outfit Home United FC were expected to dominate this tie but it was the home team which started well. Yadanarbon should have taken the lead in the 20th minute when Myo Ko Tun beat the offside trap and found himself in a one-on-one situation with the goalkeeper but his effort was charged down by Home United goalkeeper Hassan Sunny.
Aung Thu flashed a shot just wide soon after even as Home United started to get on the ball more. But the Singapore-based side looked off the pace in the final third and were punished right at the end of the first half after good work from Myo Ko Tun. He took a pass from the right wing in his stride and charged into the penalty box before laying a cut back for Aung Thu to place it into the net, which the striker did gleefully.
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Even in the second half, the hosts were pretty much comfortable and Home United struggled to create clear-cut chances. Faris Ramli, though, did go close to grabbing an equaliser in the 70th minute when he danced his way past a couple of defenders and saw his shot from an acute angle come off the crossbar.
Yadanarbon held on till the end, despite being put under pressure to gain control of Group H, which has only three teams. The team from Myanmar next face a trip to Vietnam to face Than Quang Ninh.