Kings begin AFC Cup with win against Maziya

Bashundhara Kings began their maiden AFC Cup campaign with a convincing 2-0 win over hosts Maziya S&RC in a Group D encounter at the National Football Stadium in the Maldives on Wednesday.

Brazilian forward Robson Da Silva doubled the lead in the 39th minute with a low curling shot from inside the box after Maziya captain Mohamed Irufan put one past their own net to give Kings the lead in the 25th minute. 

The Bangladesh Premier League champions, however, looked nervous initially as they faced difficulty in building up from behind, their usual tactic in the domestic league, due to Maziya's high-pressing football. 

The backline -- including the likes of Tapu Barman, Khalid Shafiei, Tariq Raihan Kazi and Bishwanath Gosh -- also looked vulnerable at times in dealing with Maziya's three forwards, especially Cornelious Ezekiei and Hamza Mohamed, who came close to breaking the deadlock within the first 12 minutes of the game.

It was a bit frustrating for Oscar Bruzon's men that Argentine Raul Becerra and the Brazilian duo of Robson Da Silva and Jonathan Fernandes, main architects behind most of the Kings' success, looked off-colour as they often lost control of the ball in face of the challenges from Maziya players.

However, Kings grew in confidence gradually as they started exchanging the ball among themselves to build pressure on Maziya. Despite dominating the initial phase of the game, Maziya saw themselves trailing when skipper Irufan's attempted clearance ended up in the back of their own net. 

After taking the lead, Kings looked motivated to press hard for the second goal and Robson struck just minutes before half-time to put Kings firmly in control of the game. 

The lead could have been further extended before half-time had Becerra and Jonathan not squandered opportunities in the 42nd and 43rd minutes respectively. 

After resumption, both teams put in a good showing with Maziya trying to make amends for their mistakes in the first half. However, Kings' backline stood firm and goalkeeper Anisur Rahman Ziko thwarted the attacks well to keep a clean sheet.

Kings will play their second match on August 21 against Indian outfit JSW Bengaluru FC, who suffered a 0-2 defeat to ATK Mohun Bagan in the day's first match.