KUALA LUMPUR – Sabah enjoyed a goal galore in their last Super League match before Hari Raya Aidilfitri by routing Kelantan 6-1 in the clash at Likas Stadium, Kota Kinabalu last night.
The Rhinos under coach Datuk Ong Kim Swee did not wait long to start the goal spree as they were up as early as the fourth minute through midfielder Daniel Ting who calmly finished a pass from Ko Kwang Min.
The pair proved to be lethal when they produced Sabah’s second goal with Daniel heading in Ko’s cross in the 11th minute, but Kelantan managed to close the gap with a beautiful shot from outside the penalty box by defender Miguel Cifuentes in the 46th minute.
Sabah quickly responded with a third goal two minutes later by Dominic Tan and they were 4-1 up in the 61st minute through captain Baddrol Bakhtiar.
Failure to clear the ball neatly in the penalty box haunted The Red Warriors again, this time it was Stuart Wilkin’s turn to make his mark as a scorer when he took advantage of the opportunity to score the fifth goal for Sabah in the 75th minute.
Midfielder Telmo Castanheira closed the curtain for Sabah’s goal party in second-half stoppage time with a powerful kick to beat Mohd Farhan Abu Bakar to seal the team’s first win after four games.
The three points collected last night allowed Sabah to overtake Kedah Darul Aman in fourth position with 17 points after nine games, 10 points separated from the league leader and defending champions, Johor Darul Ta’zim (JDT) who also recorded a victory last night.
The Southern Tigers coached by Esteban Solari recorded a narrow 1-0 victory against PDRM after being forced to work hard and given great opposition throughout the 90 minutes of action at the Petaling Jaya City Council Stadium.
JDT’s winning goal came in the 61st minute through striker Fernando Forestieri’s finisher who finally beat Nor Hakeem Hamidun after the goalkeeper performed brilliantly including saving Bergson Da Silva’s penalty kick at the end of the first half.
PDRM had to play with 10 players with 15 minutes left in the game after midfielder Kyaw Min Oo received a red card following a second yellow card.
In the meantime, Perak’s desire to end the drought of victory was not achieved when they had to settle for a 1-1 draw with visiting Negri Sembilan at the Perak Stadium, Ipoh.
Young striker Muhamad Alif Zikri Zaini Anuar put The Bos Gaurus coached by Datuk Lim Teong Kim in front as early as the third minute before the home team squandered many opportunities to take a comfortable lead.
Negri Sembilan, who were more aggressive in the second half, finally managed to equalise in the 69th minute through substitute striker Muhammad Shahrel Fikri Md Fauzi, thus saving the team from going home empty-handed. – Bernama, April 20, 2023
