Indonesian champions Persib Bandung may have exited the 2024/25 AFC Champions League Two in the group stages, but there’s still plenty of interest towards the competition this week as national team stars Pratama Arhan and Asnawi Mangkualam took to the field with their Thai teams in the ACL2’s round of 16.
Arhan was named on the bench as True Bangkok United travelled to the Allianz Stadium in Sydney to take on hosts Sydney FC on Wednesday.
After a goalless first half, Richairo Zivkovic gave Bangkok United the lead with a 50th minute penalty, only for Adrian Segecic to turn the tie in favor of the hosts with his brace in the 60th and 78th minute.
With only five more minutes plus stoppages to go, Bangkok United head coach Totchtawan Sripan decided to throw Arhan into the fray, the left-back replacing veteran Peerapat Notechaiya.
And Arhan repaid Totchtawan’s trust towards him in full, as in the fifth minute of injury time, his splitting through pass found Thitiphan Puangchan, who smashed in the equalizer with virtually the last kick of the game.
The 2-2 draw meant that Bangkok United still had plenty to fight for as Sydney will visit the Thammasat Stadium in Pathum Thani for the second leg on February 19th.
With Arhan’s impressive cameo done and dusted, it was Asnawi’s turn to shine on Thursday as his Port FC side host South Korean giants Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors at the BG Stadium.
Jeonbuk had endured a disappointing 2024 season where the perennial powerhouses were entangled in a relegation dogfight, only surviving thanks to a play-off win over second-tier side Seoul E-Land. Seeking to bounce back and restore their place amongst the big time, Jeonbuk turned to former Sunderland manager Gus Poyet as their new head coach, and with Poyet’s arrival, he brought with him a deadly striker in the form of former Universitatea Craiova and FCSB striker Andrea Compagno.
Named in the starting lineup and clocking up all 90 minutes, Asnawi tried his best but he couldn’t keep up with a striker of Compagno’s caliber, with the Italian easily making mincemeat of both Asnawi and the Port defense by scoring a brace. Park Jin-seop and Song Min-kyu also scored as Jeonbuk ran out 4-0 winners, leaving Port with a huge mountain to climb coming into the second leg in South Korea on February 20th.