Terengganu FC advance to the final after sealing a dramatic victory over Selangor FC penalty shoot-out with a score of 4-2 after a 1-1 draw after extra-time in the Piala FA Malaysia 2022 semi-final at Sultan Mizan Zainal Abidin Stadium, Gong Badak.
Previously, the action in the first 15 minutes was clearly controlled by the Red Giants players with the first attempt going through experienced players, Mohd Nor Hakim Hassan in the seventh minute which was easily caught by Rahadiazli.
Turtle’s squad, which was seen to be slow to heat, had the best chance to lead the fight in the 17th minute, but the captain’s header, Kipre Tchetche, which was met by Mohd Faisal Halim slightly crossed the goal barrier.
Five minutes later, TFC once again had the best chance to break the deadlock through Mohd Faiz Nasir’s shot which was almost caught by the visitor’s defense, Yazan Mousa Al-Arab.
The result of a quick attack, Michael Feichtenbeiner’s squad managed to ‘silence’ more than 33,000 loyal TFC fans when they got a preliminary goal in the 23rd minute through striker, Mohd Nor Hakim.
The net culminated in a cross by defender Quentin Cheng before the Kuala Terengganu-born player managed to outwit the keeper through an erratic deflection for his side to go 1-0 up.
In the 34th minute, the referee, Zulkarnain Zakaria awarded a penalty kick to the hosts after Mohd Faisal was brought down by the defense, Shahrul Nazeem Zulpakar, however the referee changed his decision after talking with the assistant referee.
Imported Germany-Philippines mess, Manuel Ott also had the best chance in the penalty area in the 38th minute, but failed to finish with the net, as well as Tchetche’s solid cross four minutes later just rattling the goal bar.
Continuing the second half, armed with the solid support of loyal fans, Nafuzi Zain’s men changed the style of the game by often pressing the visitors’ camps to hunt for an equalizer.
The result in the 48th minute, Mohd Faisal who got a pass from Mohd Faiz wisely let go of three opposing players before spreading to the right corner of the visitors’ goal to tie the position 1-1.
After the network, TFC players were increasingly eager to chase goals, however the chances of defender Pape Diakite in the penalty box in the 60th minute were successfully denied by goalkeeper Samuel Somerville.
Likewise, two golden opportunities were obtained by the hosts through Mohd Faisal in the 81st minute and a substitute player, Muhammad Syafik Ismail six later, failed to break into the net even though the goal was opened and forced the match to be dragged into extra time.
During the 30 minutes of added time, no goals were scored although both teams had many opportunities presented to score goals forcing the match to be decided by penalties in favor of TFC with a 4-2 win.
With this victory, the Turtle squad will make calculations with Johor Darul Ta’zim (JDT) in the final and will be able to repeat the history of winning the trophy in 2011.
Credit Photo : TFC
