AFC Challenge League
With maximum points from two matches, the win confirmed top spot in Group D for the Indonesian club with Chinese Taipei’s Tainan City battling it out with Yangon United of Myanmar on Saturday for the other quarter-final spot.
The opening salvo went the way of Tainan City as they opened the scoring in the 11th minute, thanks to a solo effort from Kim Sang-jun who picked up the ball on the left flank, shrugged off the challenge of Rei Okada before squeezing a low shot between Kadu and his near post.
Borneo woke from their slumber and almost found the perfect response six minutes later when Gabriel Oliveira powered his way into the box and lifted the ball over goalkeeper Pan Wen-chieh but his effort bounced off the bar.
Captain Juan Villa was next to have a go, a spectacular drive from inside his own half which had Pan backtracking furiously to tip away and from the ensuing corner kick, the Tainan City custodian produced a stop on the goal line to thwart Daniel Mikolajewski’s powerful header.
Borneo fluffed their lines again a minute before the end of the first half, Okada’s cross from the right was perfect but Moussa Diarra could not keep his header on target despite being unmarked.
Group D: Tainan City FC (TPE) v Borneo FC Samarinda (IDN)
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Mauro Jeronimo sent his Borneo side out on the attack in the second half and it wasn’t long before the Indonesian side restored parity.
Hugo Samir got hold of the ball on the left in the 51st minute and released it to Villa to smash a low strike past a rooted Pan.
Borneo were not done yet as they went ahead six minutes later, Villa turning provider this time as the creative midfielder produced a defence-splitting pass for Kablan N’Goma to curl the ball beyond Pan.
Tainan City had the opportunity to salvage a point when Isreal Opoku put Wilker Da Silva through on goal in the 64th minute but Kadu made himself big and blocked the shot.
Amar Brkic made sure of the win for Borneo in the 82nd minute, smashing a left footed effort from outside the box into the top corner to ensure his side’s journey in the competition continued.
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