Macarthur FC winger Jed Drew notched two goals and one assist as the Bulls eased to a 3-0 victory over Sabah FC in the AFC Cup ASEAN Zonal Semi-Finals at Campbelltown Stadium on Tuesday night.
The Bulls took a first-half lead through captain Ulises Dávila before Jed Drew doubled the advantage 21 seconds after the restart. Drew secured his brace and the 3-0 result with a classy finish in the 80th minute as the Bulls brushed aside the Malaysia Super League outfit to book a spot in the AFC Cup ASEAN Zone Final.
Fellow Isuzu UTE A-League club Central Coast Mariners face Phnom Penh Crown on Tuesday night (8pm AEDT kick-off), with the winner of that game set to face the Bulls in the Final on February 22 – a fixture set to be hosted by the Bulls.
Tickets for the AFC Cup Zonal Final at Campbelltown Stadium will be available to purchase here at 2pm AEDT on Wednesday, February 14.
Raphael Borges Rodrigues attempted to break the deadlock at the quarter-hour mark, cutting onto his right foot and firing a shot just over the crossbar.
Ramon Machado came closest for Sabah in the first half, taking aim at Macarthur’s goal from long range. Bulls keeper Filip Kurto sprung into action but ultimately did not lay a finger on the ball as it missed the target.
Dávila broke the deadlock shortly before half-time, controlling Drew’s cross on the edge of the six-yard box and firing the ball in off the post to give the hosts a one-goal lead.
Macarthur took less than 30 seconds to double the advantage after the break, with Drew the orchestrator of Sabah’s undoing.
The visitors had kick-off to restart the action in the second half but a turnover led to Dávila feeding Drew the ball deep inside his defensive half.
Drew took possession and carried from one side of the ground to the other, skipping past a number of Sabah challenges to finish off a sublime solo goal.
Machado had the ball in the back of Macarthur’s net soon after but his joy was short lived as the offside flag was raised to deny Sabah a way back into the contest.
Bernardo Oliveira came off the bench for the Bulls in the second half and produced a brilliant individual effort to set up the home side’s third of the evening; Bernardo weaved his way through midfield in a supreme display of close control before sliding the ball into Drew’s path to bury past Sabah keeper Khairul Fahmi and put the result out of sight.
