KUCHING: Kuching City FC’s winless streak has been extended to 10 games after they surrendered their lead by losing 1-2 against Penang FC away last night.
Striker Abu Kamara gave his team the lead half an hour into the first half before The Black Panthers roared back with two goals, one each from Khairul Akmal and Soony Saad, to seal the three points for the host at City Stadium.
Both sides started off the match with low tempo where neither side created any meaningful chances to threaten each other’s goalpost.
The first golden opportunity came in the 20th minute for Penang FC when its captain cum centre-half Rafael Vitor managed to lose his marker and got to the end of the ball first but his header from three yards out was wide off the mark when it looked easier to score than missing the target altogether.
After coming out of the earlier scare unscathed, Kuching City went down the other end in the 31st minute and scored.
Abu Kamara played a superb one-two with Amir Amri at the edge of the box before the Liberian star striker put the ball past the onrushing Penang FC keeper Azfar Arif with a sublime finish into the top right corner.
However, Kuching City’s goal did not kill the spirit of Penang FC but instead it somehow actually woke the Black Panthers up as they came out fighting even harder at the other end and just two minutes later after conceding the goal, Soony Saad had a shot from 10 yards out which was well saved by a stretching Norazlan Razali.
Kuching City did not seem to catch the warning sign very well and just before half time, Penang FC equalised in the 44th minute.
Norazlan made a grave mistake by misjudging the free kick swung in by Faris Shah down the right flank and Penang FC’s centre-half Khairul pounced on the loose ball by poking the ball into the empty net.
Kuching City nearly conceded another goal two minutes into stoppage time of the first half as Soony continued to show that he was a constant menace by latching onto the free kick swung in by Faris Shah from the same spot three minutes earlier but his header sailed just above the crossbar.
Penang FC carried their momentum into the second half and just five minutes after the restart, the Black Panthers scored the winning goal.
Kuching City FC made a half clearance from a Penang FC’s corner and after some ricochet outside of the box, Soony won the ball back and he struck a wonder goal from 25 yards out that left Norazlan absolutely no chance.
Kuching City had a chance late in the game to equalise but the effort from substitute striker Abdallah Sudi in the 82nd minute was well saved by Azfar as Penang FC held on to the scoreline until the final whistle.
The win saw Penang FC climb its way into the top half with 14 points in 7th while Kuching City are still mired in 12th with only 4 points gained from 10 games played.
