Istiqlol continued Tajikistan’s dominance of the AFC President’s Cup by capturing the 2012 title on home soil, coming from a goal down to beat Palestinian side Markaz Shabab Al-Am’ari 2-1 in the final on Sunday night.

In front of a packed crowd of nearly 20,000 at the Central Republican Stadium in Dushanbe, Markaz took the lead on 21 minutes through forward Ahmed Keshkesh.

However, the hosts hit back in the second half, with Davronjon Ergashev levelling the scores in the 69th minute before Dilshod Vasiev grabbed the winner nine minutes later.

Tajikistan sides have now won the competition four times out of eight editions after Regar-TadAZ Tursunzoda triumphed in 2005, 2008 and 2009.

Top scorer of this year’s tournament was Dordoi Bishkek’s Mirlan Murzaev, who netted all his eight goals during the group stage in Phnom Penh in May.

To contact the reporter on this story: Dan Riley at [email protected]