August 30 – Turkmenistan’s Altyn Asyr and North Korea’s 4.25 SC will meet in the Inter-Zone final of this season’s Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Cup after recording comfortable wins in that section of the competition’s semi-final stage.
The AFC Cup is currently in its second season of a new format after a major overhaul was implemented in 2017, one which adopted a more regionalised approach to the continental club event.
Altyn Asyr progressed thanks to a 2-0 victory over India’s JSW Bengaluru in the second leg of their semi-final on Wednesday, sealing a 5-2 aggregate win.
Following a first half of few genuine chances, Altyn Asyr opened the scoring five minutes after the break when Altymyrat Annadurdyyev picked up the ball outside the Bengaluru area and rifled home an unstoppable left-footed shot to claim his eighth goal of the campaign.
The hosts sealed their win in the 58th minute, Mekan Saparov’s effort from 30 yards crashing off a post and back out to Vahyt Orazsakhedov who slotted home from the rebound.
Altyn Asyr will now face North Korean outfit 4.25 SC after the East Asians powered to a 11-1 aggregate success over Singapore’s Home United.
In the wake of a comfortable 2-0 first leg victory in Singapore, 4.25 turned on the style in Pyongyang as Om Chol Song’s hat-trick and a brace from An Il Bom brace helped them record a 9-1 win and set up their two-legged tie with Altyn Asyr on September 19 and October 3.
The winners of the Inter-Zone final will face either Jordan’s Al Jazeera or reigning champions Air Force Club from Iraq for the AFC Cup title on October 27.
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