Dempo's assistant coach Mauricio Afonso (right) blamed poor start for his team's defeat at the hands of Safa.HYDERABAD – Dempo assistant coach Mauricio Afonso was left ruing a poor start by his side on Tuesday as the Indian league champions missed out on a spot in the AFC Cup final after going down 4-1 to Safa.
The Lebanese side held a narrow 1-0 lead from the first leg in Beirut but Mohammad Kassas netted twice in the first 17 minutes to effectively kill of the tie for the visitors.
Congolese striker Mboyo Iyomi pulled a goal back just after the hour to reward a period of intense pressure by the home side but Kassas then turned provider for Hussain Tahan to add Safa's third in the last minute before the substitute matched the achievement of his team-mate by scoring his second of the night four minutes into stoppage-time as the Lebanese side sailed into the AFC Cup final with a 5-1 aggregate win.
“The early goal really upset our plans tonight,” said a disappointed Afonso.
“At 1-0, we still had a chance but after conceding two goals in the first 20 minutes, it was very difficult to come back.
“Safa forced us into making mistake and based on their performance today, they deserve to be in the final.
“They are a good side although we matched them in the second half and gave them a hard time. However, our defenders made some bad errors and they have to take some responsibility for our defeat.”
Safa coach Samir Saad was naturally delighted to see his game plan work to perfection as the team from Lebanon marched through to the final with an unbeaten record.
“The early goals made all the difference for us today,” said Saad
“Our plan was to keep the game tight and to hit them on the counterattack and it ended up working out perfectly for us.”
Safa became the first Lebanese club to reach the AFC Cup final since Al Nejmeh in 2005 and will be hoping to go one better than their Beirut rivals, who lost 4-2 on aggregate to Jordan’s Al Faisaly.
Source:The AFC.com
