Central Coast Mariners were cruelly denied a first ever away win in the Asian Champions League when Guizhou Renhe scored twice in the last six minutes to win 2-1 at Guiyang Olympic Sports Centre in China.
A youthful Mariners line-up looked comfortable throughout and led via a first-half penalty from Mitchell Duke until Bosnian striker Zlatan Muslimovic equalised with a solo strike.
Striker Qu Bo won it for the home side two minutes later with a rebound shot after Zvjezdan Misimovic had hit the post.
From being on the verge of qualification, the Mariners are now tied with Guizhou on four points and need to take something from their next match at Suwon Bluewings, just two days after a potential appearance in the A-League grand final.
Mariners coach Graham Arnold says he is “very, very happy” with his troops despite the result.
“Their average age was 23, I left seven of our best players at home and it was only in the last 10 minutes because of fatigue that Guizhou ended up getting on top of us,” he said.
The key matches keep coming thick and fast for the Mariners, with their participation in the April 21 grand final to be decided by this Sunday’s meeting with Melbourne Victory in Gosford.
The Mariners got lucky with a soft penalty award for Rao Weihui’s slight contact with Nick Fitzgerald in the area but were full value for their lead until they were undone by the individual brilliance of Guizhou’s Bosnian pair.
Guizhou sat strangely deep and mostly let the visitors move the ball under little pressure.
The opening goal came in the 41st minute as Oliver Bozanic, one of eight changes to the side that beat Guizhou 2-1 last week, swept in a cross from the left.
The ball was too high for Fitzgerald but the referee ruled that his full-length tumble was due to a nudge from his marker.
Memories of the Mariners’ five straight missed penalties earlier this season resurfaced with apparent uncertainty over who would take the kick.
With Danny McBreen among those left at home, captain John Hutchinson eventually handed the ball to Duke, whose shot slipped under the diving goalkeeper for his first goal away from Gosford.
Guizhou coach Gong Lei continued to tinker erratically with his side throughout the match and was sent to the stands in the second half for his touchline protests.
His captain, Sun Jihai, shot just wide midway through the second half following some smart build-up play but the Mariners remained in the ascendancy and Duke was only denied a second goal by a sliding block.
That looked to be it but Muslimovic cut inside full-back Hayden Morton on the left and carried the ball into the area before firing it across goalkeeper Mat Ryan into the net.
Misimovic almost put the home side ahead but team-mate Qu did the honours, putting away the rebound from a difficult angle.
Source: AAP.
