Gokulam Kerala ended their journey in their first-ever AFC Cup competition after losing against Bashundhara Kings by a 2-1 margin in the Group D contest of the AFC Cup 2022. Kings now have a good chance to qualify for the Inter-zone play-off semi-finals of this tournament. However, ATK Mohun Bagan have the best chance to snatch this only semi-final position from this group with a victory result against Mazia.
On Tuesday (24th May) late afternoon, the last two-time Indian I-League champions Gokulam Kerala faced the last two-time Bangladesh Premier League champions Bashundhara Kings at Vivekananda Yuba Bharati Krirangan (Kolkata) in the Group D contest of the AFC Cup 2022.
AFC Cup 2022: Gokulam Kerala lost their must-win game
It was a must-win game for both these teams for securing the only qualification spot for the Inter-zone play-off semi-finals from the Group D. However, to secure their spot for this semi-final round, the winners must have to follow the other result between Maziya and ATK Mohun Bagan, which will be played later on Tuesday at the same venue.
At the end of the first half, Bashundara Kings took a lead by 1-0. Brazilian winger Robinho put the Bangladeshi team ahead in the 36th minute.
In the nine minutes of the second half, Kings added one more goal to their scoreline. Robinho once again played a crucial role in that goal as the Gambian forward Nuha Marong successfully netted the Brazilian’s perfect set-up.
Just before entering the last 15 minutes of the game, the Jamaican striker Jourdaine Fletcher finally managed to break the deadlock for Gokulam Kerala. Mohammed Jassim delivered a good cross to the Jamaican who made a superb finish.
Both teams fought really hard till the end to add more goals to the scoreline, but they were not successful enough. Finally, this game finished with the 2-1 scoreline in the favour of Kings.
Now, all the eyes will move to the game between Maziya and ATK Mohun Bagan. This final Group D match of the AFC Cup 2022 will begin at 20:30 (08:30 PM) local time at Vivekananda Yuba Bharati Krirangan (Kolkata) Tuesday (24th May) evening. This forthcoming game will finalise the only team in this group who will advance to the Inter-zone play-off semi-finals of the AFC Cup 2022.
The latest status of Group D of the AFC Cup 2022 (Before the beginning of the match between Maziya and ATK Mohun Bagan)
Bashundhara Kings: Kingsfinished the Group D contest with six points in three games (two wins and one defeat). They will qualify for the Inter-zone play-off semi-finals if Mohun Bagan fail to win their game against Maziya.
ATK Mohun Bagan: The ISL club ATK Mohun Bagan (currently three points in two matches) can only qualify for the Inter-zone play-off semi-finals if they beat Maziya. While then they will also have six points in three games, like Bashundhara Kings, ATKMB have the advantage of head-to-head record over Kings with their 4-0 win scoreline.
Maziya: Maldives club Maziya, who currently have three points in two games, can’t qualify for the Inter-zone play-off semi-finals even if they manage to beat Mohun Bagan due to their poor head-to-head record against Kings in this competition (1-0 defat).
Gokulam Kerala: Gokulam are out of the contest for the qualification for the Inter-zone play-off semi-finals as they finished with three points in three games (one win and two defeats) in this Group D competition.
