LAHORE, April 4: Pakistan suffered a crushing 7-1 defeat at the hands of Sri Lanka in the AFC Challenge Cup qualifiers being played at the Chungshan Football Stadium in Chinese Taipei on Friday.
It was an off-colour day for Pakistan, who entered the field to clinch their third consecutive international win after beating Nepal (2-0 at Pokhara, Nepal, last week) and Chinese Taipei (2-1) in the opener of the AFC event.
But a hat-trick by Kasun Nadika Weerarathna Jayasuriya and two goals each by Anton Nimal Fernando Dehiwalage and Channa Ediribandanage gave Sri Lanka their first win over Pakistan since 2002.
The Lankans made a flying start with two goals inside 13 minutes. Kasun drew first blood in the seventh minute and Channa, top scorer for Ratnam SC in the third AFC President Cup at Lahore last year, utilised a penalty-kick to double the lead in the 13th minute.
Although midfielder Adnan Farooq Ahmed pulled one back in the 17th minute, Sri Lanka at interval were placed comfortably at 3-1 with Kasun getting his second in the match’s 42nd minute.
Dehiwalage who came on as a substitute, made it 5-1 with strikes in the 72nd and 77th minute. And Channa added another in the 82nd minute with Kasun registering a hat-trick in the final minute of the game.
Sri Lanka after playing three matches have six points now and they are leading in Pool ‘A’, followed by Pakistan (3). Meanwhile Chinese Taipei and Guam have yet to open their account.
Pakistan face Guam and Sri Lanka take on Chinese Taipei in their last Pool ‘A’ matches. The group leader qualifies for the main round to be held in India later this year.
