AFC Challenge League: Peprah hat-trick leaves Svay Rieng with one foot in semifinals

Former King Faisal and Orlando Pirates striker Kwame Peprah continued his spectacular 2025-26 season with Cambodian club Svay Rieng on Thursday, scoring a hat-trick as the visitors dominated in a 4-1 quarterfinal first leg victory at Phnom Penh Crown in the AFC Challenge League.

The Ghanaian is now the co-leading scorer in the tournament after outduelling Phnom Penh Crown’s Moses Dyer to move level with the New Zealander on the competition’s scoring chart.

The quarterfinal featured an all-Cambodian clash between Cambodian Premier League leaders Svay Rieng and their closest challengers. It was Phnom Penh Crown who took an early lead through Dyer inside three minutes at the RSN Stadium in the Southeast Asian nation’s capital.

But Peprah put his team back into the tie before the half hour mark. Running onto a through pass from Ryo Fujii, the poacher made no mistake with a powerful and accurate finish to set up a 1-1 halftime score.

 

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And the reigning Cambodian club champions fully asserted their dominance in the second half. Peprah added his second goal in the 67th minute and the visitors continued to add on to their lead in the final twenty minutes.

A penalty kick from Brazilian forward Patrick made it 3-1 and then the Ghanaian added one more goal late on with a low strike from distance to leave Phnom Penh Crown with a massive deficit to overcome in the second leg.

Peprah’s remarkable season in CPL and AFC Challenge League

Peprah continues to dominate this season. He has a remarkable tally of 29 goals from 29 matches in all competitions, with 20 goals to lead all scorers in the Cambodian Premier League while being tied at the top of the list in the Challenge League.

The second leg will also take place in Phnom Penh in one week’s time. Based in the southeast province of Svay Rieng on Cambodia’s Vietnamese border, Peprah’s club are playing their Challenge League matches in the capital this season.