KUCHING: Saddil Ramdani and Telmo Castanheira were on target as Sabah FC defeated hosts Kuching City FC 2-1 at Stadium Negeri last night.
This spells another defeat for Il Gatto at home with three matches played in the Malaysia Super League (MSL), with their only three points coming from the opening game against Kelantan FC away.
Due to the poor pitch condition after the continuous heavy rainfall lately, both teams were unable to create clear-cut chances.
The first shot on target came early in the third minute when Sabah’s Saddil Ramdani shook off his marker in Zahrul Nizwan and lashed a shot just outside the 18-yard box but it was calmly collected by Kuching City’s debutant in goal, Julian Schwarzer.
Even though they were the underdogs, Kuching City did not just sit back and defend for a point. Zahrul Nizwan fired a long-range shot from 20 yards out in the 11th minute but his effort sailed slightly above the crossbar.
After more than 10 minutes of skirmishes where both sides cancelled each other out, Datuk Ong Kim Swee’s men broke the deadlock in the 23rd minute.
Daniel Ting threw the ball in from the touch-line on the left and it was well collected by his captain Park Tae-Su who held up the ball very well before making the pass towards an advancing Saddil Ramdani who found space to dribble the ball into the box and finished it well into the bottom left corner that left Julian Schwarzer absolutely no chance to save it.
Trailing by a goal, Kuching City fought back. In the 29th minute, Abu Kamara received a ball from a clearance at the back but he wasted the opportunity to counter attack by lashing a long-range effort from 20 yards out which was easily saved by Sabah goalie Damien Lim when he had two unmarked teammates supporting him on each flank.
Kuching City’s effort to seek an equaliser was not in vain with the goal coming 90 seconds into the first-half stoppage time.
Zahrul Nizwan’s cross from the right flank was not well cleared by Sabah’s Irfan Zakaria and it fell into the possession of Kuching City’s Sirojiddin Kuziev who made an acrobatic pass to Abu Kamara in the middle.
He shook off Daniel Ting and with the goal just right in front of him, Abu Kamara calmly slotted the ball into the back of the net from 10 yards out to level the scoreline just before halftime.
In the 57th minute, Sabah FC regained their lead.
Jafri Chew cut a low cross into the box from the right flank which Kuching City’s Aylton Alemao stumbled upon due to the wet pitch and the ball eventually fell onto the legs of Darren Lok.
The Brazilian defender managed to stand right back up to block Darren Lok’s effort but the ball ricocheted and landed right in front of Telmo Castanheira who did not waste the golden opportunity and tapped the ball into the net right in front of the six-yard box to put the visitors in front again.
Ong’s men knew that a 2-1 lead was not enough and they continued to press on and in the 71st minute, Jafri Chew put in an early cross down the right flank again but Darren Lok’s header was just slightly above the crossbar.
With less than 20 minutes to go, Sabah FC started to deploy time-wasting tactics to keep their lead with Kuching City relentlessly bombarding forward.
A golden chance to equalise came in the third minute of stoppage time in the second half when substitute Joseph Kalang Tie drifted in from the right flank and sent a shot from the outside of the 18-yard box but it was well held by Damien Lim with Kuching City’s Abdallah Sudi ready to pounce if there was a rebound.
The visitors held on to their lead in the final two minutes in front of 2,500 fans before the final whistle as they secured a hard-fought 2-1 victory which was enough for them to keep their 100 percent record intact.
