* Lions XII take a 2-0 cushion for the return-leg
The first goal came as early as four minutes and the second deep into injury time as Lions XII put themselves in the driving seat for a place in the semi-final with a 2-0 win over Johor Darul Takzim II in the first-leg quarter-final match at the Jalan Besar Stadium in Singapore on Wednesday night.
Fandi Ahmad, coach of the Singapore outfit, however, is aware that his Lions still another half of the battle to be won when the return-leg is played at the Pasir Gudang Stadium in Pasir Gudang next Wednesday.
Singapore international Khairul Amri, always dangerous each time he was on the ball found the net in the fourth minute, when he wriggled himself from two JDT II defenders, took a quick turn and drilled home a low shot into far left corner past the rooted JDT custodian Anis Faron.
Anis, who got himself in hot soup last week in the 2-1 defeat to Penang in a Premier League match at the City when he was taken in for using abusive words at the FRU personnel on duty, turned in a sterling performance between the posts to keep JDT in the picture.
His Singapore counterpart Izwan Mahbud, Singapore’s No 1 goalkeeper, was also in top form to deny the visitors.
Just when the 1-0 scoreline looked like ending the match, Lions XII struck in injury time for the second goal which came from Christopher van Huizen – to strengthen the Singapore outfit’s for a place in the semi-finals.
FA CUP QUARTER-FINAL (1st-leg, 8 April 2015)
Lions XII 2 JDT II 0
