Home hold on for Draw in AFC Cup

Home United had to dig deep last night to earn a 1-1 draw with Indonesian side PSM Makassar as they began their defence of the AFC Cup ASEAN Zone. The result leaves all four teams in Group G on one point after Lao Toyota and Kaya FC also drew in the other game of the night.

Home line up without Song and Cernak for the second game in a row

Home lined up without their two foreign imports, Song and Cernak, who have been confirmed as injuries but nevertheless started the game brightly. PSM Makassar looked uneasy on the artificial turf of Jalan Besar, giving the ball away dangerously when trying to play it out of the back. New boy Adam Swandi, playing out wide for most of the game, raced through on goal after 15 minutes, taking advantage of a horrendous defensive error, but was unable to beat Mokodompit who came racing out of goal to make the save.

However, PSM started to grow into the game thanks in no small part to their Dutch captain Wiljan Pluim who showed strength, vision and skill to control the centre of midfield and provided the creative spark for most of PSM's best attack. Giant Finnish striker Eero Markkanen was able to boss the Home defence who seemed to struggle to deal with his physical presence. Markkanen had already had a couple of chances before he broke the deadlock after 26 minutes. Pluim drove through the Home defence drawing players towards him before laying the ball off to Rachmat who found Markkanen in the box. There was still plenty for the former Real Madrid striker to do but he made it look easy, he simply smashed the ball into the roof of the net with the outside of his left foot sending the vocal traveling fans crazy. Markkanen's technique and composure were incredible. The new PSM signing might have looked a bit 'plump' and could still be lacking a bit of match fitness at this stage of the season but his class is obvious, once he has another few games under his belt he is going to be a real handful for defenses around Asia.

Markkanen caused the Home defence problems all night

PSM were able to take control after the goal and were unfortunate not to go into halftime more than one up. The best move of the half saw the impressive Pluim complete a one-two on the edge of the box but was unable to hit the target with his shot. Adam Swandi made up for his earlier miss with an impressive double block, saving a certain goal. The fact that Swandi's best work was defensive sums up this period of the game. Home were chasing the game at times and this trend continued after halftime. Markkanen burst into the box to get on the end of a through ball and looked sure to score in the 50th minute only to be denied by an incredible last ditch tackle from Aqhari Abdullah. A few minutes later Home's impressive keeper Rudy Khairullah was forced to make a superb save to keep the score at 1-0. It was starting to look like Home would need a miracle to get anything from the game.

Pluim was difficult to get off the ball

Hami Syahin was the one to provide this miracle. The 20 year old midfielder had once again impressed throughout the game with his passing and energy but it was his finishing that will grab all the headlines. When Hami picked up the ball more than 30 yards out there didn't seem to be much on. The former Young Lion took one step, got his head up and smashed a superb strike into the top corner, if you haven't seen it I urge you to watch it (https://twitter.com/FSAsiaLive/status/1100741500277686274). The strike earned the appreciation of the entire 1,589 crowd and looked to have set up a fantastic finish to the tie However, less than 10 minutes later Hami had left the field with what looked like a nasty injury, caused while diving in to tackle Markkanen on the edge of the box. After scoring the winning goal in the Community Shield on Sunday and then hitting this absolute stunner before going off injured it's been quite a start to Hami's Home United career, he looks set to become a fan favourite and must be in line for a call up to the National Team.

Hami leaves the field on a stretcher

The Home crowd were buoyed by Hami's goal and pushed their team forward. However, Home were largely reduced to threatening on the counter attack as PSM went straight back on the offensive and pushed for the winner that they probably deserved. Hami's replacement, another new signing Ho Wai Loon, showed some skillful touches on the left but Home were hanging on. Another great save from Rudy and more last ditch defending was the only reason that Home were able to walk away with a point. In the end the Home fans went home happy, feeling that it was a point gained, but Home will now have to hope that PSM drop points somewhere else or will need to get result in Indonesia when the teams meet at the end of March. By then PSM are likely to be fitter and stronger and could provide an even stiffer challenge than they did last night.

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