But the match will be remembered for the five red cards shown by the referee – three for the visitors and two for the home side.
There were three sending-offs in the first half itself, with Kelantan’s Mohd Daudsu Jamaluddin and Shakir Shaari the first two to be given the marching orders for rough play.
The Turtles utilised their two-men advantage to pull ahead through Ismail Faruqi Ashaari’s fantastic effort from the edge of the box in the 43rd minute.
But Ismail went from hero to zero just minutes later when he was sent off for collecting his second booking of the game for a foul on Norshahrul Idlan Talaha.
The spot kick was awarded after Terengganu defender Mohd Faizal Muhamad handled the ball.
The Turtles restored their advantage through an Abdul Manaf Mamat penalty in the 86th minute.
But there were more woes for both teams in the physical encounter when Terengganu’s Mohd Zubir Mohd Azmi and Kelantan’s Mohd Aziz Ismail were red-carded during the closing stages of the match.
But the drama was not over, as Terengganu captain Marzuki Yusof still found time deep into second-half injury time to score from a freekick to hand the Turtles a 3-1 cushion for the return leg in Kota Baru on Friday.
At the Shah Alam Stadium, Selangor’s hunt for their 33rd Malaysia Cup received the perfect boost when they beat Perak 3-1 in the first leg last night.
The Red Giants’ goals were scored by Safiq Rahim (14th and 57th) and Amirulhadi Zainal (63rd) while Perak replied through Mohd Failee Mohamad Ghazli in the 77th minute.
Midfielder Safiq scored his two goals from freekicks while winger Amirulhadi had an easy tap-in for the third goal.
Selangor started aggressively and had Perak pegged in their own half for the better part of the match.
The pressing tactic worked as Perak gave away several freekicks and Safiq curved in the first goal from one of the kicks.
Then, Safiq floated his second freekick over the defensive wall to dip under the crossbar and beat Perak goalkeeper Kamarul Effandi Abdul Rahim for Selangor’s second goal.
Amirulhadi tapped in Selangor’s third goal after a cross from skipper Amri Yahyah was diverted into his path by Azidan Sarudin.
Perak tried to claw back into the game by doubling their efforts and were duly rewarded with a goal from on-loan player Mohd Failee in the 77th minute.
The homesters suffered a blow after defender Bunyamin Omar collected his second yellow card for a foul and was sent off for an early shower in the 80th minute but the Selangor defence, marshalled by goalkeeper G. Jeevanathan, held sway until the end.
Meanwhile, in the other Klang Valley match, Felda United stunned last year’s finalists Negri Sembilan 1-0 at the MBPJ stadium.
Felda’s goal was scored by former Negri player K. Rajan in the 59th minute to stun the Negri fans who outnumbered Felda supporters in the stadium.
The Deer’s coach Mohd Azraai Khor Abdullah made several substitutions in a bid to get the equaliser but his strikers could not get the better of Felda goalkeeper Mohd Hamsani Ahmad.
In the last tie yesterday, club side T-Team edged Sabah 2-1 at the Likas Stadium.
T-Team’s goals were scored by seasoned campaigner Indra Putra Mahayuddin in the 36th minute while midfielder Alto Linus equalised for Sabah in the 47th minute.
However, Indra Putra struck again to seal victory for the visitors in the 86th minute and crush the passionate Rhinos supporters.
The second leg of the Malaysia Cup quarter-finals will be played on Friday.
No comments:
Post a Comment