KUCHING: Kedah Darul Aman FC clinched a dominant 3-0 win over Kuching City FC with an impressive performance in Alor Star.
Centre half Akmal Zahir netted either side of half-time on Friday, helping Nafuzi Zain’s men leapt to third on the 2023 Malaysian Super League table after five games have been played.
Manuel Hidalgo scored a sublime third to make it 3-0 as Kuching City struggled to find their form at the Darul Aman Stadium.
Kedah made a typically fast start as Serbian centre half Bojan Cigergot onto the free kick swung in by Argentinian maestro Manuel Hidalgo first but his header was straight into the clutches of Kuching City goalkeeper Julian Schwarzer after 10 minutes have been played.
Kuching City’s poor defensive shape nearly cost them yet again in the 25th minute when Kedah managed to string easy passes into the final third after being presented an abundance of spacesbut its captain Manny Ott’s close-range shot was kept out by Schwarzer’s left leg.
Kuching City’s lacklustre defending did not last much longer and just two minutes later, after winning the ball high up the pitch and sensing an opportunity from 25 yards out, Akmal Zahir fired a piledriver with power straight into the top left corner that was out of Schwarzer’s reach.
Akmal Zahir needed just three minutes to grab his brace after the restart as he latched onto the in-swinging corner from the right and powered his header into Schwarzer’s net.
The Kedah defender was left unmarked the entire time during the set piece as Irfan Bakti’s men questionable marking is still haunting them after five league games.
Schwarzer was unable to deny Hidalgo from making it 3-0 at 57th minute when the maestro cut inside from the right and turned Kuching City’s Badrul Hisham inside out before shooting from 10 yards out, with the ball somehow crept into Schwarzer’s near post.
With five minutes left before the final whistle, there was enough time for another on field scuffle.
Kuching City’s Uzbek midfielder SirojiddinKuziev played an early lob into the penalty box but Kedah goalkeeper Kalamullah Al-Hafiz came out to claim the 50-50 ball before Liberian poacher Abu Kamara could reach to it.
However, Kamara followed through with a kick to the goalkeeper’s shin and it was not well received by Kedah’s Wan Amirul Afiq who confronted the striker for his naughty tackle.
A chest-to-chest bump ensued and Kamara retaliated with a slap towards the defender’s face without the referee looking. Wan Amirul Afiq, clearly unhappy with the slap, shoved Kamara straight onto the field.
Both players received a yellow card each for the altercation but since it was Wan Amirul Afiq’s second yellow of the night, he was sent off for an early shower.
Kamara could count himself lucky not to receive the red with video assistant referee (VAR) yet to be introduced in this league as this is not his first time this season committing such naughty act out of frustration when the referee was not looking.
With their fourth loss in a row, Kuching City dropped down to 12th on the league table with their only three points gathered from the opening game against Kelantan FC away from home.
Irfan Bakti’s men have merely scored three goals so far but conceded up to a staggering 13, which is the joint-highest in the league, while having the worst goal difference so far with a -10 deficit, after only five games into the season.
