Sri Lanka edge out Chinese Taipei

Chinthana Wasala

Ace striker Kasun Jayasuriya scored his fifth goal of the tournament as Sri Lanka beat Chinese Taipei in a thriller by 2 goals to 1 in the AFC Challenge Cup qualifying round tournament match played at the Sugathadasa Stadium under lights yesterday.

Jayasuriya and Ruwanthilake struck in quick succession to help Sri Lanka secure the lead while Chen Po-Liang netted the only goal for the visitors.

Kasun Jayasuriya took the perfect start on behalf of the Home team to send a neat pass by Mohamed Asmeer into the net in the 35th minute to take the lead 1-0. Before that, the Chinese Taipei soccerites looked much better near their goal but the Lankan goal keeper Ajith Kumara did a brilliant job, not letting the ball go beyond him at any time.

After Jayasuriya struck, the visitors looked a bit demoralized and Just after three more minutes, Rohana Ruwanthilake was successful in scoring Sri lanka’s second goal which came in the 38th minute.

After the Breather, Chen Po Liang netted the ball to help the visitors, making no mistake in converting a corner kick into a goal in the 79thminute. Both teams failed to add more goals and the final result saw a 2-1 win for the Sri Lankans.

The most successful striker for the home team so far in the tournament, Kasun Jayasuriya was shown a red card leaving a desperate situation for the Lankans in facing the next match which is scheduled to be played against the tough Pakistani side on Wednesday. Pakistan outplayed Brunei Darussalam easily in a 6-0 thriller. Pakistan led 2-0 at half time.