Kuala Lumpur still struggle for goals despite win

The goals finally flowed yet it was a tale of the missed chances that continues to trouble Kuala Lumpur coach Razip Ismail after opening their Malaysia Cup campaign with a 3-0 win over Police in Paroi on Tuesday.

Yong Kuong Yong and Badrul Hisyam Azmi -- the latter with a penalty, added to a 44th-minute Azrul Azman own goal to give KL a winning start to the Malaysia Cup for the first time since 2004.

But Razip said the score could easily have read 5-0 as KL failed to fully capitalise on the dismissal of Police goalkeeper Al Husairi Ibrahim, who was red-carded for bringing down Kuong Yong in the box in the 61st minute.

"What is most important is the three points although at the start of the match I did not expect us to score three goals," said Razip, in reference to KL's troubles in front of goal in friendly matches.
 

"In the first half we hardly created chances but in the second half we looked sharp. We missed a couple of chances so we should have won by a bigger margin.

"We also were a bit loose at the back after Police went down to 10 men and they could have scored twice. I don't know if it was a lack of concentration but we'll have to raise our level for the next game," added Razip after the game at Paroi, a venue where KL have not lost to any opposition in 10 years.

With Kuala Terengganu T-Team, KL's next opponents in Selayang on Saturday, beating 32-time champions Selangor 1-0 in Kuala Terengganu, the fight for quarter-final spots in Group D is wide open.

"There is no easy path in this group. All the teams have a chance to advance. We will need to work extra hard to maintain our position," said Razip as KL lead the table ahead of T-Team on goal difference.

In a further boost for three-time Malaysia Cup winners KL, playmaker Azwan Malek emerged unscathed after a 10-minute cameo appearance, his first in six months since recovering from a knee ligament tear.