Ashfaq fires Maldives

Maldives' two-goal hero Ashfaq Ali skips past a lunging Afghan skipper Ali Ahmed Yarzada during their match of the Bangabandhu SAFF Championship at the Bangabandhu National Stadium yesterday. PHOTO: STAR

A brace from Ashfaq Ali helped holders Maldives to a come from behind 3-1 win over Afghanistan in their crucial Group A encounter of the SAFF Championship at the Bangabandhu National Stadium yesterday.
Apart from Ashfaq's brace, Ahmed Thoriq netted the other for Maldives, who raised their point tally to four from two outings after being held 1-1 by a spirited Nepal in the tour opener.
Their second defeat in as many matches meant Afghanistan were eliminated from the group stage and will take on Nepal in their last match which will only be of academic interest on Wednesday.
After losing points to Nepal in the previous match, holders Maldives brought two changes in their side and tried to assert the authority in the midfield against Afghanistan, who went 1-0 down to Indian despite holding the upper hand in the game.
However, Maldives launched the first attack through the right flank with Fazeel Ibrahim going close to opening the account, but his well-judged header off a Naseer Mukthar cross came off the sidebar to disappoint Maldives in the 18th minute before they were stunned by the Afghans.
Collecting a throw from his fellow midfielder, Hashmattullah Barkezai drove a powerful shot from outside the box that found the back of the Maldives net on the half-hour mark though goalkeeper Mohamed Imran got a hand on his shot.
Afghanistan went for the breather with a lead.
After resumption, Maldives reorganised to step up the attacks and the pressure paid off after eight minutes when Ahmed Thoriq, who stuck the lone goal against Nepal, equalised the margin with a close-range tap when a Fazeel header off a Nasser corner came in his way.
Afterwards, it was a show for Maldives captain Ashfaq, who struck twice inside nine minutes to make the result safe and keep their hopes of qualifying for the semfinals alive.
Ashfaq, the best player of the last edition, did not hesitate to give his side the lead in the 70th minute as the playmaker easily drove the ball past Afghan goalkeeper Hamidullah Yousufzai from handshaking distance.
With one minute to go, Ashfaq was played a low ball from the midfield and he shrugged off his marker to advance into the danger zone before lashing a left-footer that flew past the goalkeeper in the 89th minute.

TEAMS
MALDIVES: Mohamed Imran, Mohamed Saifan (Ali Assad), Umair Mohamed, Ibrahim Sobah Mohamed, Jameel Mahmed, Gasim Shamweel, Naseer Mukthar, Fazeel Ibrahim, Ashfaq Ali and Ahmed Thoriq (Arif Mohamed).
AFGHANISTAN: Hamidullah Yousufzai, Zohib Islam, Hafizullah Gadami, Hashmattullah Barkezai, Moaddar Gazizada (Ali Azara), Israfeel Kohistani, Saboor Khalili, Zakria Rezai (Faisal Sakhizada), Ali Ahmed Yarzada, Masood Hashemi, Syed Bashir Azimi (Wahid Nadeem).
Yellow cards: Zohib Islam and Israfeel Kohistani (Afghanistan)
Referee: Shrestha Gyanu (Nepal)