Kuol strike secures Central Coast Mariners historic title
Central Coast Mariners were crowned AFC Cup champions after defeating Lebanon’s Al Ahed FC 1-0 thanks to a late Alou Kuol strike at Sultan Qaboos Sports Complex on Sunday.
On their debut in the competition, Mariners became just the second Australian club to win an AFC competition, a decade after Western Sydney Wanderers won the AFC Champions League on their own debut.
The final marked the last-ever game in the AFC Cup which will make way for the three-tier AFC competitions from next season; the AFC Champions League Elite, AFC Champions League 2 and AFC Challenge League.
After a cagey start typical of a continental final, 2019 champions Al Ahed had the first sight of goal after 25 minutes. A wellworked string of passes down the left side opened space for Mohammed Al Hallak and the Syrian playmaker whipped a cross for Lee Erwin who rose highest to head it towards the bottom corner, only to be denied by a fine diving save from Danny Vukovic.
Central Coast Mariners responded within three minutes as Josh Nisbet broke into the Al Ahed box from the left, sending a low cross that seemed destined to be converted by Ryan Edmondson who somehow failed to connect with it, and the ball fell to Miguel Di Pizio at the far post, but his finish was tame and was easily collected by Mostafa Matar.
Neither goalkeeper could be beaten before the break but the deadlock was finally broken in the 84th minute thanks to Kuol. The 22-year-old had come off the bench 20 minutes earlier, replacing Edmondson. He latched onto a fine through ball from Barcellos, hitting it low through the legs of goalkeeper Matar to bag what proved to be the winner.