Kelantan and Terengganu take away goal advantage
Terengganu stole the limelight at the Perak Stadium in Ipoh with – scoring all the goals and had Ismail Faruqii red carded after 55 minutes – in a 1-1 draw against Perak – while defending champions Pahang rode to a 2-0 win over Premier League outfit Penang at the Darul Makmur Stadium in Kuantan.
At the Selayang Stadium, Kelantan took the lead on 45 minutes through Colombian striker Erwin Carillo but two minutes into injury time in the first half Sime Darby made it all square through a header by Nemanja Vidakovic.
Still it was a good show from the Red Warriors under new coach Azraai Khor Abdullah who said: “The away goal is what we wanted and we got it. It gives us the advantage but Sime Darby is good side and have hardworking foreigners. They gave us a torrid time.”
An own goal by Zubir Azmi gave Perak the lead on 45 minute. Ten minutes after into the second-half the Turtles were reduced to 10 players with Ismail’s sacking.
Somehow Perak could not ride on the numerical advantage and paid a heavy price when the homesters conceded a penalty late into injury time – 95th minute – and Paulo Rangel blasted the spot kick into the Perak net for a 1-1 draw which give Terengganu the advantage for the return-leg in Kuala Terengganu.
Pahang scored their two goals in the first 14 minutes and then muffed a couple of goalscoring opportunities with R. Gopinathan the main culprit. The match was only eight minutes old when Gopinathan rolled the ball for Hafiz Kamal to put the finishing touches with his favourite left foot which sent the ball into the roof of the net.
In the 14th minute it was 2-0 for Pahang with Dickson Nwakaeme at the right place at the right time to tuck home a rebound from Hafiz’s freekick which came off the left upright.
Then came the tale of missed chances but coach Zainal Abidin Hassan, asual praising his players for the commitment and disciplined performance.
“It was a better performance from the team compared to our last two matches at home,” said Zainal, adding that the win will stand in good stead for the home match against Kelantan on Saturday.
RESULTS
FA CUP QUARTER-FINALS (FIRST-LEG)
Pahang 2 Penang 0
Sime Darby 1 Kelantan 1
Perak 1 Terengganu 1
