Selangor Notch First League Win In Style

7 Mac, 2015


SHAH ALAM: Selangor finally snapped their winless run in style with a 4-1 win over high-flying Police at the Shah Alam Stadium.

Goals from Ahmad Hazwan Bakri (23rd minute), Mohd Afiq Azmi (46th) Abdul Hadi Yahya (74th) and Guilherme De Paula (78th) gave the Red Giants their first win in four matches. Malian striker Dramane Traore scored Police’s consolation goal in the 58th minute.

Selangor coach Mehmet Durakovic made one tactical change to the line-up who knocked out Felda United in the FA Cup second round last week.

Second-choice goalkeeper Mohd Syamim Othman started ahead of regular Norazlan Razali.

The Red Giants, the visiting team last night in their SHARED homeground with Police, went ahead after winger Hazwan pounced on rightback V. Thirumurugan’s fumble on the edge of the box and drilled a low shot home.

Lanky striker Afiq scored Selangor’s second after receiving a through ball from Indonesian winger Andik Vermansyah a minute after the restart.

Police clawed back into the game via Traore, who finished neatly after playing a clever one-two with Ahmed Ezrie Shafizie in the box.

Selangor regained their two-goal cushion after substitute Abdul Hadi scored with his first touch of the ball after pouncing on a loose ball on the edge of the box.

Brazilian De Paula put the icing on the cake for Selangor as his shot from outside the box went straight past Police goalkeeper Badrul­zaman Abdul Halim with 12 minutes remaining.

The Red Giants now have five points after four matches while Police, who suffered their second defeat in the league, have six points.

Meanwhile, double winners Pahang got back on the winning trail with a 2-0 win over Sime Darby FC at the Darul Makmur Stadium in Kuantan.

A header by Pakistani centreback Zesh Rehman in the 45th minute and a strike by nippy winger R. Gopinathan in the 55th minute sealed a morale-boosting win for the east coast side.

At the Sultan Ismail Stadium, Terengganu and Armed Forces shared the spoils in a 2-2 draw.

The soldiers were staring at their fourth straight defeat of the season after Brazilian hotshot Paulo Rangel’s brace in the 33rd and 48th minutes put the Turtles 2-0 up.

But goals from Honduran striker Jerry Palacios and Christie Jayaseelan in the 65th and 76th minutes saved the blushes for the Gladiators.

Johor Darul Ta’zim (JDT) came back from a goal down to edge Sarawak 2-1 at the Larkin Stadium.

Skipper Safiq Rahim was the Southern Tigers’ hero with two quick goals in the 39th and 41st minutes.

The Crocs went ahead in the 27th minute when Billy Mehmet beat the offside trap before neatly slotting the ball past JDT goalkeeper Farizal Marlias.

Despite a goalless draw with Lions XII at the Selalyang Stadium, Felda United moved back to the top of the standings on goal difference.

Perak leaped over Felda after an early match against Kelantan on Friday. The Seladang were also held to a goalless draw at the Perak Stadium.

Original source - K. Rajan and Joash Ee Silva www.thestar.com.my