POLICE whipped the daylights out of Perlis with a thumping 7-1 win in an afternoon Premier League match at the Petaling Jaya Stadium in Kelana Jaya to tighten their grip at the top.
The Cops rode on a hattrick by Maldives striker Ashfaq Ali, who took his tally to five goals in all competitions – four in the league and one in the FA Cup. He also scored the winner in Police’s 1-0 win over KL SPA in a first round FA Cup match.
Brazilian hitman Chad Charles Souza hit a brace while Bobby Gonzales – who earned a national call-up by interim coach Datuk Ong Kim Swee – and Khairul Izuan Abdullah, scored one each.
Chad also scored for Police in the 1-1 draw against Pahang in the first leg FA Cup quarterfinal match in Paroi, Seremban last week.
The big win also sent out strong signals to Super League’s Pahang, who will now be extra careful when they cross paths again in the second round at Kuantan’s Darul Makmur Stadium this Tuesday.
This is the second time Police have registered a big win at the Petaling Jaya Stadium. Penang were the first to feel the afternoon heat when they were thrashed 5-1 in a league match on Jan 27.
The 7-1 thrashing of Perlis was a big surprise for Police coach Dollah Salleh but the former international told sports247.my:
“We’ve been improving match by match and the draw against Pahang further boosted our confidence.
“I hope we can keep the momentum and raise our game further when we play Pahang in the FA Cup on Tuesday. Things are falling nicely but we are not getting carried away.”
Dollah, who coached Pahang to the Malaysia Cup title last season before taking over the Police hotseat, now believes his team have an even chance against the Elephants.
“Everything went according to my plans against Perlis…but frankly I’m surprised with the margin of the win. It has certainly boosted our morale and confidence for the trip to Kuantan.”
The seven goals against the Northern Lions have taken Police’s total to 16 goals in four matches. They have conceded only three.
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