Lae City FC settled for a 2-2 draw against Galaxy FC of Vanuatu in game one of Pool A of the OFC Champions League 2022 in Auckland, New Zealand.
The match hosted at the Ngahue reserve, home of the OFC kicking off at 12pm midday (NZ time) yesterday swayed to the Lae City FC dominance and ball possession but unable to finish off up front where it mattered.
Galaxy FC were first on the board from a deflected ball spinning into the uprights but then Lae City FC captain Emmanuel Simon retaliated with a curve ball from a corner kick to equalize in the first half.
Ahead of halftime and a golden opportunity was awarded to Lae FC through a direct penalty couldn’t materialize as the Galaxy FC goalkeeper Joshua Willie read well Simon to deny the penalty.
Scores were leveled 1 all at halftime.
Minutes to start of the second half and Lae City FC were caught off guarded with Galaxy FC’s second goal leading 2-1 points and only pushing Lae FC to a fighting finish.
The strong comeback by Lae FC was awarded with their second goal scored by striker Jonathan Allen from a corner kick.
But a strong defensive display by both sides meant no goals for the remainder of the second half last quarter as both sides walked off 2 all at full time.
Lae FC's second match is against AS Venus of Tahiti on Sunday, 7th August, with Galaxy facing the Solomon Islands’ Central Coast FC.