Bangladesh heartbreak in HK thriller

Bangladesh's hopes of a historic Asian Cup qualifying win were crushed in dramatic fashion as a stoppage-time goal sealed a 4-3 victory for Hong Kong after the hosts had staged a stirring comeback in a pulsating encounter.

The hosts led early through Hamza Chowdhury's sublime strike and twice fought back from behind, only for Raphaël Merkies's hat-trick and a dramatic stoppage-time finish to leave the crowd stunned on Thursday night, bdnews24 reports.

Bangladesh made the perfect start when Hamza curled a stunning right-foot strike into the top corner after just 13 minutes, sending the crowd into raptures.

But Hong Kong struck back on the stroke of half-time, punishing a lapse in defence. In the fourth minute of added time, Everton Camargo ghosted through the back line to slot home the equaliser.

The visitors took control soon after the restart. A defensive blunder in the 50th minute allowed Merkies to pounce and fire past the goalkeeper to make it 2-1.

Bangladesh's problems deepened midway through the second half when another well-delivered cross found Merkies unmarked. His towering header in the 74th minute put Hong Kong 3-1 up and seemingly out of reach.

Refusing to surrender, Bangladesh poured forward in search of hope. Substitute Muhammad Jamal launched a pinpoint long ball that Shekh Morsalin met with a superb header in the 84th minute to narrow the deficit to 3-2.

Deep into 11 minutes of stoppage time, Morsalin turned provider again. His curling corner caused chaos in the box, and Shamit Shome reacted quickest to nod home the equaliser, sparking wild celebrations as the scoreline read 3-3 with seconds left.

Yet the euphoria lasted barely a heartbeat. Straight from the restart, Hong Kong broke down the right. Shakil Ahmad Tapu and Saad Uddin both failed to clear, and Merkies was there again to smash home his third and Hong Kong's fourth, sealing the win in the dying moments.

It was a cruel blow for Bangladesh, who had produced one of their most spirited displays in recent memory but left the pitch shattered.

The defeat leaves Bangladesh with just one point from three matches in Group C, after two losses and a draw.

Hong Kong now top the group with seven points, followed by Singapore on five and India on two.

Nearly 19 years have passed since Bangladesh last faced Hong Kong in an Asian Cup qualifier. And the outcome, once again, was heartbreak for the men in red and green.