It’s been a while since I last made an entry on the Malaysian soccer scene. The Malaysia Cup, the most precious Cup in Malaysian football, is already in the Semi Final stage.
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