The match between Simorgh Alborz and Toofan Harirod in the 2013 Roshan Afghan Premier League (RAPL) held on Thursday, ended in a thrilling 3-3 draw. A win for Simorgh Alborz would not only have avenged last year's 2-1 defeat in the finals, but would help it secure the #1 seed from Group A for the semi-finals. A loss, on the other hand, could mean the end of their season pending the results of Mawjhai Amu's final group stage match next weekend.
From the beginning, Harirod was giving a tough fight to Alborz. They generated a dangerous chance within 22 seconds and kept Simorgh Alborz goalkeeper Hakmatullah Muradi (#1) continuously busy.
A series of corner kicks and aggressive attacking softened the Simorgh Alborz defense to the point that, in the 15th minute, Simorgh Alborz conceded their first goal. Toofan Harirod left midfielder and the National Team star- Maroof Mohammadi (#14) was not closed down when he received the ball on the top of the box. He had time to take a touch to his right before calmly passing the ball into the lower right corner of the goal.
Only four minutes later, Toofan Harirod notched another score when Nasir Halimi (#3) lobbed a ball forward to a streaking Hamidullah Karimi (#11). Karimi beat goalkeeper Muradi in a footrace to the ball, at which point he took a simple touch around Muradi and finished on an empty net.
The Toofan Harirod defense looked solid the rest of the half and led their team into the locker room at halftime with what seemed to be a comfortable 2-0 lead.
In the second half, Simorgh Alborz's attack looked lethal. In the 55th minute, captain Muniralhaq Nadeem (#10) fed the ball forward to Fayaz Azizi (#11), who was able to knock it over goalkeeper Farzan Ibrahimi (#26) into the goal. Simorgh Alborz was back in the game with 2-1.
In the 69th minute, Toofan Harirod's Karimi scored his second and his team's third goal. Simorgh Alborz's second goal came off of a corner kick, which was served to the far post and then headed back in front of the goal.
The equalizer then came three minutes later when Azizi won the ball near midfield, dribbled forward while fending off a defender, and struck into the upper right corner of the goal.
In the 85th minute, Simorgh Alborz managed to hang on to the 3-3 tie. The result is positive for both teams. Toofan Harirod will be the top seed from Group A in the semi-finals, while Simorgh Alborz has secured the 2nd position. Shaheen Asmayee will play against De Maiwand Atalan on Friday.The match will be played in the Afghan Football Federation (AFF) Stadium in Kabul with 04:00pm kick-off time. The match will be broadcasted live on TOLO and Lemar TV.