* Kedah biggest winners with 5-1 win over SPA Putrajaya
* No homecoming for K.Lumpur at Merdeka Stadium after 17 years as Sabah win 2-0
In the battle of the relegated Selangor’s PKNS FC got the better of Terengganu outfit T-Team 2-0 at the Petaling Jaya Stadium in Kelana Jaya on the opening day of the Premier League competition on Friday.
T-Team coached by Tomislav Steinbruckner fell to two second half goals scored by Argentine striker Gonzalo Sato and Munir Amran in a three-minute which began in the 56th minute to give E. Elevarasan a roaring start in his stint as the new head coach.tum
However, Elavarasan, a former international who is back into coaching after a year’s absence, admitted that it was a tough match against the East Coast hopefuls.
“We woke up only in the second half and became more aggressive in our attacks and this brought us the goals and the three points. It’s a good start to our campaign and hopefully we will be able to build up our momentum for the coming matches,” said Elavarasan.
At the Merdeka Stadium, Kuala Lumpur were humbled 2-0 by East Malaysian side Sabah – which gave the city boys another gloomy start to the M-League. Kuala Lumpur were returning to their ‘home’ after 17 years and it was not the start they were looking for after undergoing a massive revamp.
Sabah have to thank their former World Cupper El Hadji Diouf of Senegal for putting them on the victory path. Diouf scored his first M-League goal from the penalty spot on 47 minutes. He also had a hand in Sabah’s second goal when he set up Shafuan Adli Shaari to put the finishing touches from close range.
In Alor Star, Kedah, Malaysia Cup semi-finalists last season, rode on a brace from new signing Keith Nah who found the net in the 48th and 50th minutes for their big win over SPA Putrajaya. Hanif Mat Dzahir opened scoring on 23 minutes while international Baddrol Bakhtiar (61st) and Chidi Edeh.
(90th), another new signing completed the rout. Putrajaya’s consolation goal was scored by Ijezie Michael Chukwubuna in the 68th minute.
Negri Sembilan conceded a shock 16th minute goal to DRB-Hicom (Muhammad Fakrul Aiman) but recovered for a convincing win at the Hang Jebat Stadium in Malacca with goals by Jean Marc Alexander (18th), Francis Forkey Doe (48th) and G. Puaneswaran (80th) for a 3-1 win under coach K. Devan.
Penang struggled to a 1-0 win at home over newcomers Kuantan FA with Korean Lee Kwang Hyun netting the all-important goal on 58 minutes at the City Stadium.
Meanwhile in Shah Alam, Johor Darul Takzim II defeated UiTM FC 2-1 for a winning start. Skipper Shahril Ishak netted JDT’s opening goal after 10 minutes of play before Argentine hitman Leandro Velazques got the winner in the 82nd minute after Alam Shah made 1-1 for UiTM FC in the 56th minute.
PREMIER LEAGUE RESULTS (Feb 6)
PKNS FC 2 T-Team 0
Penang 1 Kuantan FA 0
UiTM FC 1 JDT II 2
DRB-Hicom 1 N. Sembilan 3
Kedah 5 SPA Putrajaya 1
K.Lumpur 0 Sabah 2
