The two contenders in the recent FA Cup 2008 completed the first leg with comfortable wins. Both Selangor and Kedah cruised past their opponents in their respective matches last night.

• Selangor vs Johor FC – Selangor edged Johor FC with a 2-0 win
• Kedah vs Terengganu – Kedah took charge with a convincing 3-0 win.

Both Selangor and Kedah continue their fine form after their wins in the TM Piala Malaysia 2008 Quarter Finals.

Selangor vs Johor FC

In Shah Alam, it was their final appearance with Selangor at home for the 3 Selangor imports. The Selangor trio of Frank Seator, Elie Aiboy and Evans Chisulo bid farewell to their fans. No imports for next season, said FAM recently.

The Selangor  Red Giants started the match with vigor. They clearly wanted an early score. They went for the kill from the word go. Johor FC were on their back foot through out the match. They never posed any real danger for the upbeat Selangor.

Selangor deservedly got their first goal in the 18th minute. Safee Sali finishing off a low cross from Indra Putra. The goal raised the heat even further for Johor FC. The home team had many more chances at goal after that. They were however, denied goal by poor finishing up front.

Frank Seator rocked the Johor FC goal post with a thunderous shot from 30 meters in the 40th minute. The score, thus, remained 1-0 until the half.

After the half time breather, Selangor continued their pressure on Johor FC. They kept Johor FC back pedaling through out the match. The Red Giant’s goal keeper had pretty much nothing to do between his goal posts.

E. Aiboy, could have put the homers two up in the 60th minute. S. Sali’s sent the ball to E. Aiboy across a gaping open goal. E. Aiboy, however, failed to convert, even with the goal keeper already well beaten.

The visitors looked to have succeeded in keeping the scoreline at 1-0. However, much to the pleasure of the home fans, two second half substitutions combined together in the dying minutes of extra time to produce Selangor’s second goal. A. Yahyah, coming in from the left, sent in a hard low cross across the Johor goal. The drive was met by the onrushing R. Surendran and directed straight into goal.

Kedah vs Terengganu

Over in Stadium Darul Aman, Kedah too had no problems facing Terengganu. Kedah had total control of the match. Terengganu was never in the game. At half time, Kedah was already up by 2-0. Badrul Bakhtiar and Marlon Alex James scoring in the 25th and 40th minutes respectively. Kedah’s third came in the 75th minute. Khyril Muhaimeen netting in the third for his team.

A Look Ahead

Johor FC will host Selangor at the Pasir Gudang Stadium in the second leg. They will have a daunting task of overcoming Selangor’s two goal advantage. Johor FC, have shown in the past that they are capable of the task, however. They did overcome UPB MyTeam’s 2 goal advantage to advance to the semis.  Can they do it again?

An early goal by Selangor in the return leg would diminish any hope of a comeback by Johor FC. Johor FC would need to win by a four goal margin should Selangor score another goal in the 2nd leg. Selangor should take on an attacking mindset in the coming match. A defensive stand could swing the momentum into Johor FC’s advantage.

A two goal lead may not be enough for Selangor. They have been very unpredictable in terms of defense. Among the four in the TM Piala Malaysia 2008 Semi Finalists, Selangor probably has the worst defensive record in the Malaysian Super League 2008 with 36 goals allowed. Johor FC could take advantage of this fact.

Kedah, on the other hand, has a three goal advantage on their side. Terengganu will need to quickly go for the kill and get at least two very early goals to stand a chance in qualifying for the final. Terengganu will no doubt have a Himalayan task ahead of them. Have they got what it takes in them to overcome this 3 goal deficit?

Who do you think will advance into the Malaysia Cup 2008 Final? Who do you want to see in the final? Will we see an FA Cup 2008 rematch?

Evernote lets you save all the interesting things you see online into a single place. Access all those saved pages from your computer, phone or the web. Sign up now or learn more. It's free!

 

Four Malaysia Cup 2008 matches were played last night. Selangor faced PDRM at Selayang Stadium. Perak hosted Kedah in Ipoh. Terengganu traveled north to face Perlis. MyTeam journeyed south to meet Johor FC. The second leg of the Quarter Finals was a high scoring affair. Only the Perlis vs Terengganu match failed to produce any goals.

In the end, only four teams managed to continue their journey to the Malaysia Cup 2008 Semi-Finals. Malaysia Cup 2008 is almost coming to an end.

The 4 football teams who made the cut are:

• Selangor
• Johor FC
• Kedah
• Terengganu

Of the four, who will survive and move on to the Final match?

PDRM vs Selangor Recap

Selangor Red Giants grabbed their semi final berth with an away win against PDRM. Both teams drew 3-3 last night at the Selayang Stadium. They drew 0-0 in the first leg of the quarter finals.

The Red Giants’ imported striker, Frank Seator, scored two goals from the penalty spot to ensure Selangor’s place in the semi finals. The second penalty came two minutes from full time. Selangor was behind 2-3 before they were presented with the penalty. F. Seator was brought down in the penalty box by Yosri Derma Raju. Referee, R. Krishnan, without hesitation, pointed to the spot. Selangor, thus, claimed their spot into the 2008 Malaysia Cup Semi-Finals.

It was Selangor who drew first blood with a goal in the 12th minute. Safie Sali drew the penalty call when he was brought down in the box. F. Seator had no problems thrashing the ball home dead center for Selangor to take the early lead.

PDRM followed suite with a Nizaruddin Yusof equalizer 7 minutes later. Off a corner kick, the former Selangor striker headed home into Selangor’s goal 20 minutes into the game. The score remained at 1-1 until half time.

After the breather, Selangor came out with more intent. They took the lead for the second time in the 56th minute. Shukor Adan took his chance well and made it 2-1 for Selangor.

As if awaken from a stupor, PDRM took charge after the second Selangor goal. They got their game together and began making advances into their opponent’s box. Selangor, on the other hand, seemed content with their one goal lead and just defended in numbers.

PDRM got their break in the 80th minute. After pushing hard, they finally broke the Selangor defence. Norfarhan Mohamad leveled for PDRM from a free kick. Two minutes later, while Selangor was still languishing from PDRM’s second equalizer, Noh Alam Shah slotted PDRM’s go ahead third.

Leading, with only minutes to go, PDRM became contented. They paid the prize for their lackadaisical display after their third goal. F. Seator made sure that Selangor continue to stay on course for their 33rd Malaysia Cup title.

Malaysia Cup 2008 Quarter Finals 2nd Leg Results:

PDRM 3 vs 3 Selangor (Selangor advances, away goal rule)
Perak 0 vs 2 Kedah (Kedah advances, 5-0 aggregate)
Johor FC 5 vs 1 UPB MyTeam (Johor FC advances, 6-4 aggregate)
Perlis 0 vs 0 Terengganu (Terengganu advances, 7-6 penalty)

Malaysia Cup 2008 Semi-Finals fixtures:

Selangor vs Johor FC
Kedah vs Terengganu

Evernote lets you save all the interesting things you see online into a single place. Access all those saved pages from your computer, phone or the web. Sign up now or learn more. It's free!