Defending champions Kelantan began their Malaysia Cup title defence in style – turning on the heat in the second half to beat Premier League side Sarawak 2-0 in a Group C match at the State Stadium in Kuching last night.
The Red Warriors got their goals through hotshot Norshahrul Idlan Talaha in the 64th minute and attacking midfielder S. Chanturu in the 79th minute.
Sarawak did well to to hold the competition favourites to a goalless draw in the first-half before finally succumbing to Kelantan relentless pressure towards the end.
The Red Warriors fielded their best line-up. The only one missing was goalkeeper Khairul Fahmi Che Mat, who is in centralised training with the national Under-23 squad preparing for the Asian Zone final round Olympic qualifying match against Japan in Fukuoka on Sept 21.
Sarawak, who have won promotion to the Super League next season, have always been a tough nut to crack at home and that was exactly what Kelantan discovered yesterday.
In another Group Cmatch, Felda United got off to a flying start with a 2-0 win over Johor FC at the JCorp Stadium in Pasir Gudang.
Former international Farderin Kadir was the toast for Felda when he scored in the 44th and 66th minutes.
Meanwhile, 32-time champions Selangor again fell to bogey team T-Team – losing 0-1 at the Sultan Ismail Stadium in Kuala Terengganu in a Group D match.
Norfazly Alias scored the only goal of the match in the 73rd minute to hand Selangor their third straight defeat at the hands of the Terengganu club side.
T-Team had also beaten the Red Giants twice in the Super League.
Selangor are under tremendous pressure to win the Malaysia Cup after failing to land a silverware this season.
K. Devan’s men were barely a threat in the first-half, with skipper Mohd Amri Yahyah hardly getting a chance in front of goal.
It is clear that the Red Giants sorely missed the services of hotshot Mohd Safee Sali, who joined Indonesian club side Pelita Jaya early this season.
The Selangor defence was caught napping in the 73rd minute when Norfazly, left unmarked inside the box, cooly slotted the ball past helpless Selangor goalkeeper G. Jeevanathan.
In the other Group D match, Kuala Lumpur thrashed Police 3-0 at the Tuanku Abdul Rahman Stadium in Paroi.
No comments:
Post a Comment