East Coast hopefuls Pahang ended their two-match winless run in the Super League with a 2-0 win over newly-promoted Sabah at the Darulmakmur Stadium in Kuantan on Tuesday to move into the seventh spot.
Brazilian Ivan Carlos, who also scored in the 1-2 defeat to Selangor at home in the first match and 2-3 defeat to Petaling Jaya FC away was again in the scoring list when he opened accounts after 20 minutes.
The lanky Carlos tucked home a neat cross from Mohamadou Sumareh from the right, giving goalkeeper Wan Azraie Wan Teh, a former Pahang goalkeeper, no chance at all. Pahang 1-0at halftime.
Six minutes into the second-half Pahang stretched their lead to 2-0. This came via a penalty after Azraie was hauled up when he felled Carlos inside the box. Pahang’s long-serving French defender Herold Goulon made no mistake from the spot for a well-deserved win and first points in the league.
At the Cheras Football Stadium, a late penalty goal swayed the match into a 1-0 win for six-time Super League champions Johor Darul Takzim and a place at the top of the league standings.
Diogo Santo converted the spot-kick after his first attempt came off the post. He duly tucked home the rebound for the narrow win in a match that saw international Safawi Rashid missing from the Southern Tigers team list.
Police defender Serdar Geldiyev gave away the penalty for hands that proved costly for the lawmen. The match also saw Police goalkeeper Bryan See Tian Keat a stumbling block to JDT until he was beaten from the spot in the 85th minute.
JDT lead with nine points from three matches but the top two places could change hands on Wednesday when Melaka United play Felda United at the Tun Abdul Razak Stadium in Jengka.
