Terengganu FC steps up from the red zone after winning over Kuala Lumpur City with a score of 2-0 in the Liga Super Malaysia 2022 at Sultan Mizan Zainal Abidin Stadium, Gong Badak.
Nafuzi Zain’s squad, which had to take a break for almost two months from playing in the competitive competition due to rescheduling the match, started fiercely with a strong shot by the national Under 23 squad player, Muhammad Hairiey Hakim Mamat in the 14th minute which hit the crossbar.
The Turtles, who dropped their main strikers, Kipre Tchetche and Kpah Sherman, continued to push for the lead, but Tchetche’s attempt in the 18th minute was easily read by The City Boys’ goalkeeper, Kevin Mendoza.
When the hosts often pressed, as a result of a quick attack, In the 20th minute when the captain, Paulo Josue managed to score a goal from a pass from Zhafri Yahya. However, the goal was disallowed by the referee, Mohd Nafeez Abd Wahab because Josue was detected to be offside.
Five minutes later, former Terengganu FC defender Kamal Azizi Mohamad Zabri almost put his name as the scorer, but an attempt from outside the penalty box hit the crossbar when goalkeeper Suhaimi Husin had lost.
Terengganu FC, who dominated the game, had a chance to take the lead in the 41st minute through Tchetche’s move, but Mendoza once again acted brilliantly to deny the Turtles captain’s shot.
Continuing the second half, the host squad almost broke the deadlock in the 58th minute. However, the shot of the Filipino import player, Manuel Ott in the penalty box hit the post and saved the visitors’ goal.
Two minutes later, The City Boys also had a chance to lead the hosts as a result of a shot by striker, Muhammad Hadin Azman, but Suhaimi’s speed denied the attempt.
Realizing that it would be difficult to break the visitors’ defense, Nafuzi added a new player, Nik Sharif Haseefy Mohd Lazim to replace Faiz Nasir, the change came when the hosts managed to produce the first goal through a powerful shot from 25 meters, Habib Haroon for his team to lead 1-0.
The Bahrain-born player’s world-class goal was his first as a result of a Muhammad Hairiey Hakim cross which was previously headed by the visitors’ defender, Giancarlo Gallifuoco.
Six minutes later, the Sultan Mizan Stadium resonated when Ott managed to add a second goal through a solid shot from outside the penalty box to beat his compatriot in the visitors’ goal.
The 2-0 position remained until the end of the match and saw the squad from the East Coast win for the third time in a row.
Credit Photo : KL City
