Thetable leadership changed hands twice in this week of Malaysia Super League. Six matches were played earlier in the week, on New Year’s day. The matches produced 16 goals between them. Here I review the New Year’s Day matches.
Selangor continued their losing form in the league. They suffered a humbling defeat to the Nothern Lions at home in Shah Alam. The loss came despite the Red Giants’ domination of the game. They had numerous chances at goal. Try as they may, they were not destined to beat Perlis’ goal tender – Mohd Yusof Ishak. He alone, foiled many attempts at goal by the Selangor players. With Selangor channeling all their focus on attack, Perlis, took their sole chance at goal brilliantly off a counter attack in the 31st minute. That in turn, became the only goal to be scored in the game, earning Perlis the three points.
Over in Ipoh, Perak ran riot over Sarawak with a 5-0 win. Sarawak went back into their slumber after their win over UPB MyTeam last week. Johor FC suffered their first defeat of the season. They went down 2-0 to Negeri Sembilan in Seremban. Kedah, after putting Selangor to shame last week, went down surprisingly to Brunei DPMM in Bandar Seri Begawan. Terengganu, at home, climbed to the top of the table with their 2-1 win over Pahang. The league’s current winless team, UPB MyTeam (NOT My Team), continue their winless performance with a 1-2 loss to Penang. Will they ever get their first win?
Six more matches were played over the weekend, producing 16 goals in total. The table leader has changed hands once again.
Perak climbed up into the fifth position with their 0-2 win over Penang in Batu Kawan. Khalid Jamlus adding to his goal tally minutes before halftime. Peraks’ second came from the penalty spot. The spot kick was taken by their import Carlos Chceras.
Perlis’ dropped valuable points at home. They could only muster a 1-1 draw with Brunei DPMM. The Northern Lions had to come back from a 0-1 deficit at halftime. Their equalizer came just minutes before the final whistle, to the delight of the home crowd.
PDRM opened up the title chase with their 4-2 win over Terengganu. At half time, PDRM was 2-0 up. Terengganu closed the gap to 3-2 in the second half. PDRM’s Ahmad Latiff Kamaruddin sealed Terengganu’s fate with a goal in the 90th minute.
Bujang Senang fell yet again. This time around to the Negeri Sembilan Naza. The 2-3 win puts Negeri Sembilan in the third spot in the table standings. They are now one rung above Selangor with 13 points and one game in hand.
Kedah reclaimed their top spot in the stands with an expected 2-0 win over the current bottom dweller UPB MyTeam. Marlon James scoring a brace for himself – one in each half.
Selangor, after suffering two defeats in a row, sprang back to a 1-3 win over Pahang in Kuantan. The once mighty Pahang could only muster their solitary goal in the 55th minute. Selangor was 2-0 up at half time with goals from Frank Seator and Indra Putra. R. Surendran finally sealed Selangor’s three points with a goal late in the second half.
The week’s results see the top 4 teams with 13 points. They are only separated by goal difference. Perak and Perlis, are not very far behind, with 12 and 11 points each and a game in hand.
Go Selangor!!!