Bhutan's Paro FC have qualified for the Asian Football Confederation's (AFC) Challenge League for the third time in a row.
Paro played the tournament's Preliminary Stage in their home nation and secured their spot after beating Afghanistan's Abu Muslim FC 2-0.
Last year, Thimphu FC made it to the group stage after beating Afghanistan's champion team. Afghanistan's top club is yet to secure a spot in the AFC tournament's group stage.
Yesterday's match saw Paro's Japanese midfielder Yuta Mishima and Gambian Abdoulie Baldeh score for their team.
Abu Muslim FC put pressure on Paro from the first minute of the match. Abu Muslim's defender Mostafa Javadian's efforts were interrupted by Paro's defenders, with him being unable to capitalize.
Even though Mishima got the opportunity to take the lead in the 13th minute, he was unable to score off of Nima Wangdi's cross.
However, five minutes afterward, Mishima took advantage of Abu Muslim defenders' carelessness and scored with a powerful shot outside the box into the top corner.
Abu Muslim's Ali Riza got the opportunity to equalize in the 33rd minute. He was able to get past Paro goalkeeper Lamin Saidy but no one was on the receiving end of his cross, with the opportunity being wasted.
Both teams changed their attack strategies in the second half. Paro's Richard Sagna and Evans Asante, and Abu Muslim's Ali Riza and Omid Moosavi were unable to capitalize on their opportunities.
In the 83rd minute, Abu Muslim's Diego Ruiz got an open shot on goal but missed and sent the ball past the goal post.
Paro's Baldeh scored the second goal for Paro with an assist from Sagna by getting past the goalkeeper and getting an open shot on goal.
Abu Muslim had to face more issues in the final moments of the match. The team was down two players during extra time. In the 89th minute and 91st minute, Mahboob Hanifi and Azad Jafarzadeh were sent off after getting their second yellow cards, resulting in reds for both.
