* Playing matches at 10pm during Ramadan a new beginning for M-League
* Night of hattricks as Elephants beat Police 5-3 at Shah Alam
* Felda United and Selangor share the spoils in 4-4 draw at Selayang
* JDT edge Terengganu 1-0 in Kuala Terengganu
Felda United and Selangor shared the spoils in a 4-4 draw at the Selayang Stadium which was marred by two red cards on a night when Pahang gunned down Police 5-3 in another eight-goal thriller at the Shah Alam Stadium on Saturday when the Super League resumed after a six-week break.
This is the first time that the M-League is being played during the month of Ramadan (fasting month). And also for the first time a match was played in an empty stadium when Terengganu faced Johor Darul Takzim at the Sultan Mizan Zainal Abidin Stadium in Gong Badak in Kuala Terengganu.
The FA of Malaysia ordered the match to be played in an empty stadium as punishment after Terengganu fans and supporters rioted during the return-leg FA Cup semi-final match against Lions XII on May 16.
Terengganu won the match 3-2 but Lions XII advanced on away goals after both teams were tied 4-4 on aggregate. Lions won the first-leg 2-1 at the Jalan Besar Stadium.
JDT won 1-0 with a header by Luciano Figueroa from a corner taken by Safiq Rahim on 76 minutes. The win saw the Southern Tigers move into second-place in the 12-team league with 21 points after 11 matches.
Pahang retained their place on the top with 23 points after the big win over Police. The match also saw Pahang’s Argentine striker Matias Conti and Police striker Dramane Troare score hattrick for their respective teams.
Conti got his goals in the 38th, 45th and 70th minutes while Mali international Troare got his name into the scoresheet with goals in the 50th, 79th and 89th minutes. His last two goals were scored from the penalty spot.
Pahang’s national Under-23 striker D. Saarvindran got Pahang’s opening goal on seventh minute while Dickson Nwakaeme was on target in the 58th minute.
At the Selayang Stadium, Felda United led twice, 3-1 and 4-2 but could not stop Selangor from snatching a 4-4 draw. Selangor grabbed the lead after 13 minutes through a Hazwan Bakri goal but Felda moved ahead to 2-1 with Thiago Augusto Fernandes goals on 17th and 23rd minutes.
It was 3-1 for Felda when the evergreen national midfielder Indra Putra Mahayuddin, who wore the skipper’s armband in the absence of suspended Shukor Adan, found the net on 37 minutes. Hazwan pulled one back after 40 minutes but Ndumba Makeche made it 4-2 for Felda in the 50th minute.
However, international K. Gurusamy’s header (64th) and a penalty by Abdul Hadi Yahya (77th) spoiled the party for Felda with both teams playing the second-half with 10 players each. Selangor’s Leandro Dos Santos and Felda’s Hasni Zaindi Jamian were sent for an early shower for two yellow card offences in injury time in the first half.
Selangor are now third in the league on goal difference – ahead of 4th placed Perak, Police (5th) and Felda – all bunched on 18 points each.
FA Cup winner Lions XII resumed their league campaign with a 3-1 win over relegation threatened Armed Forces at the Jalan Besar Stadium.
Fandi Ahmad’s team rode on a own goal by Nor Fazly Alias of Armed Forces on 39 minutes to garner full points and move seventh place with 16 points. Lions XII’s other scorers were Safuan Baharuddin (50th) and Shahdan Sulaiman (84th) before Fazly made amends for his blunder by scoring Armed Forces’ consolation goal in the 59th minute.
Sarawak and Perak shared points in their 1-1 draw at the State Stadium in Kuching. Namkung Woong gave Perak the lead on 57th minute but Ryan Griffiths got equalised for the Crocs in the 60th minute.
SUPER LEAGUE RESULTS (Saturday June 20)
Felda United 4 Selangor 4
Lions XII 3 Armed Forces 1
Terengganu 0 JDT 1
Sarawak 1 Perak 1
Police 3 Pahang 5
PICTURES by www.asiana.my
