The playoffs in the South, Central and East Zones of the AFC Cup came to a close this week. Here's a recap of what transpired.
Bengaluru FC 5-0 TC Sports Club (Dovale 12', 35' 48' Paartalu 36' Bheke 90') | Aggregate: 8-2
Indian side Bengaluru FC qualified for the South Zone group stages of the AFC Cup after romping to a 5-0 win over Maldives' TC Sports Club on Tuesday.
Spanish winger Toni Dovale was the star of the night for Bengaluru with a sumptuous hat-trick while Erik Paartalu and Rahul Bheke completed the scoring for them. The side from Maldives could not muster even a goal back and ended up being outclassed 8-2 on aggregate.
Bengaluru now join Aizawl FC, Dhaka Abahani and New Radiant in Group E.
FC Khujand 0-2 FC Ahal (Wezirgeldi 49' Suleyman 52') | Aggregate 0-3
Turkmenistan's FC Ahal made their way into the Central Zone group stages after notching 2-0 win away from home over Tajikistan's FC Khujand on Tuesday.
Two quickfire second-half goals from Ylyasov Wezirgeldi and Muhadov Suleyman were enough for Ahal to emerge victorious 3-0 on aggregate.
They now join FC Istiklol, Altyn Asyr and Alay Osh in Group D.
Hwaepul SC 3-0 FC Erchim (Kuk-Chol 27' Kwang-Jin 41' Chung-Il 45') | Aggregate: 7-0
North Korea's Hwaepul SC eased into the East Zone group stages after getting the better of Mongolian outfit FC Erchim 3-0 on Tuesday.
Defender Jang Kuk-Chol, Choe Kwang-Jin and Jon Chung-Il scored the goals on the night for Hwaesul which meant they trounced Erchim by an aggregate margin of 7-0.
They join April 25 SC, Hang Yuen and Benfica de Macau in Group I.
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