MALAYSIAN SUPER LEAGUE 2010 – Matchday 5 – 2010/Jan-23

TERENGGANU 4 SELANGOR 0
Treble winners Selangor’s high flying run of victories in their Super League title defence campaign ended when they crashed embarrassingly to Terengganu, 4-0 in the top of the table clash over the weekend.

The hammering of the Red Giants, leaves the Turtles as the only unbeaten team left in the 14 team division, though Selangor remain top by only a point.

Selangor’s last away win at the Sultan Ismail Nasiruddin Shah Stadium came 8 years ago in the Charity Shield match of Season 2002, and it has been well known fact that the most dominant team in Malaysian football dislike being at this particular East Coast state.

It did not take long for Irfan Bakti’s boys to live up to their own pre-match expectations seizing the lead after only 10 minutes, when striker Ashaari Shamsuddin fooled the visitors defence before delivering an excellent pass for Manaf Mamat, to bury past Hamsani Ahmad in goal. National Under-23 striker Manaf then earned a penalty for the homesters, when he was clobbered in the box by Hamsani after being put through on goal. Ashaari stepped up to make it 2-0 from the spot in the 33rd minute.

Selangor breathed some life into their offence with the introduction of Liew Kit Kong in the second period but could not find any real penetration. The inclusion of supersub R.Surendran, who has fired 5 goals in the last four matches replacing Safee Sali, also failed to bring the desired effect, though more worryingly for K.Devan was when the striker was stretchered out injured in the 75th minute, leaving the leaders playing the last 15 minutes with only 10 men having fully utilized their substitutions.

Instead it was Terengganu, who against the run of play extended their lead to 3-0 when substitute Joseph Kallang Tie combined with Manaf to tear open the Selangor backline off a beautiful one-two move, and finish with a rising shot in the 78th minute.

The homesters were awarded a second penalty in the final minute of play, when the referee penalized Asrarudin Putra handball in the box. Ashaari once gain converted from the spot to round off a memorable night for Terengganu football and heap more misery on Selangor, while signaling their true credentials as title contenders this season.
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PERLIS 2 PENANG 0
Perlis jumped to third in the standings, two points behind leaders Selangor when they registered a 2-0 victory over Penang in Kangar.

In this Northern derby, Nidzam Adzha’s men gained foothold of the match in the 25th minute when Wan Shukri opened the scoring for them. Fakri Saarani’s 73rd minute penalty assured the three points stayed with the Northern Lions, who have not lost since their opening day home loss to Johor FC.
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KELANTAN 4 JOHOR FC 1
Kelantan finally silenced their critics after producing a domineering display in whacking Johor FC, 4-1 in Kota Bahru.

The Red Warriors much touted attacking force finally came good with Norshahrul Idlan Talaha, Indra Putra and Norfarhan Mohammed all on target, and sandwiched in between was Azizi Mat Rose’s strike.

Despite going on a spending spree in the close season, the Red Warriors have failed to live up to their tag, going into this match only scoring three goals, that came solely from their fixture against basement boys Johor, in their opening four matches, and suffering from a poor defeat against Kedah in the last home match, which led to calls for coach B.Sathiananthan’s head and the benching of goalkeeper Syed Adney, who was held responsible for the Kedah debacle.

However, the Kelantanese side finally put all that behind them with a convincing performance in the second half, mirroring their exploits last season, that surely would have left their ever so demanding fans hungry for more.

National Under-23 striker Norsharul Idlan Talaha’s opened the scoring on 17 minutes, only for the Bee’s Riduan Maon to level four minutes later. Both sides went into the break level at 1-1, but at the restart, Kelantan quickly got into gear to stun the Johoreans with two strikes in the first three minutes of play by Azizi Mat Rose, a minute after the breal, and Indra Putra, three minutes later.

Norfarhan Mohammed signaled his return to the squad laying the icing on the cake, scoring the fourth in the 72nd minute, packing Ramlan Rashid’s side who have now suffered two losses in a row.
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KEDAH 1 PERAK 1

Kedah’s troubles at home continued when they kept the demanding Darulaman crowd waiting for their first home win this season, after being held to a 1-1 draw by neighbours Perak.

However, Ahmad Yusof had Badrol Baktiar to thank for in preventing yet another defeat in Alor Setar, following the losses at home to Perlis and Johor FC. The winger’s 71st minute equaliser cancelled out Razali Kandasamy’s opener for the Seladang’s seconds before the break in yet another Northern derby this weekend.
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PLUS FC 1 KUALA LUMPUR 1
Pick Of Our Day

The battle of Chow Kwai Lam’s alumni’s from his late 80’s reign skidded and splattered in the driving rain to a scoreless stalemate as PLUS and Kuala Lumpur canceled the other out on the greasy pitch of Petaling Jaya.

With last season’s Golden Boot winner inexplicably missing from their ranks, the Highway Men looked lost on their home turf as it was the visitors more demonstrated more nous in the first half.

Kuala Lumpur captain Azidan Sarudin certainly ruled the middle unchallenged and from his pass in the 24th minute, managed to squirm through to Yong Koung Yong on the right to ride past two tackles into the box before a desperate Irwan Fadzli slide deflected his effort away.

Badrul Hisani came the closest yet for the blue and white hoops, glancing a 45th minute Lot Abu cross from the right just wide across the face of goal.

The second half finally saw PLUS managing to splutter into life and take charge of proceedings but Kuala Lumpur custodian Remezy Ros proved then on to be simply unbeatable. A 48th minute goalmouth melee saw him with a brave dive at the feet of Fadli Saari before saving from Badrul Hisani and again in the 60th minute as he touched Fadli Saari’s towering header from a Nazrin Nawi cross over the bar.

The Hawks by now were content to shut themselves up, showing an apparent lack of willingness to pour bodies forward even at the initiative of a counterattack, but aside from a couple of missed sitters from Azi Sharil, PLUS did not give them that much to worry about.

Still time though, for another Remezy Ros heart breaker, Fadli Saari from the middle freeing Badrul Hisani into the box only for his low grounder in the 88th minute to graze the tips of the Kuala Lumpur custodian’s reaches.

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PAHANG VS NEGERI SEMBILAN : POSTPONED
The Super League match between Pahang and Negeri Sembilan was postponed as a mark of respect for the passing away of the Sultan of Johor.
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JOHOR VS T-TEAM FC : POSTPONED
The Super League match between Johor and T-Team was postponed as a mark of respect for the passing away of the Sultan of Johor.

Note : This article first appeared in Goal.com

Khairi Rizal & Shamim Imran
Planet Football