MORA PREACHES
Confident Ghaddar will fire on all cylinders for Darul Ta’zim
REPORTS BY DEVINDER SINGH devinder@nst.com.my first half, maybe at only 80 per cent of the aggressiveness we needed,” Mora told TV3 after the match.
“We switched the formation a bit to work better in the second half.
“With Ghaddar it’s a matter of time. When a striker has possibilities, that is a good thing.
“Tonight he was not very sharp but he will always be a striker who scores. So lets just give him time. For me, he is a very good player and he will adapt to his teammates soon.”
With Safiq Rahim suspended, Amirulhadi took his place in the Darul Ta’zim midfield while Ahmad Hazwan Bakri was sacrificed to accommodate Ghaddar.
PKNS lined up with injured defender Gonzalo Soto while Safee Sali was omitted due to a clause following his transfer from Darul Ta’zim which barred him from facing his former team.
Both sides hit the woodwork in the first half and only a finger-tip save by Farizal Marlias denied K. Gurusamy from equalising for PKNS in stoppage-time.
“PKNS always threatened and it was quite surprising because they played differently from usual,” added Mora. “They managed to prevent us from scoring in the first half. It was not the best night for us, especially in terms of our finishing.
“For now we are in first place and we will work to maintain this spot. We are never comfortable until we win the championship.”
“But I’m glad we managed to secure the win despite the tiredness.”
Sarawak climbed out of the relegation zone after holding Perak 0-0 on a water-logged pitch in Ipoh as Malacca crashed to a 3-0 defeat to Felda United in Jengka after coach Eric Williams was rested.
Newcomers Milos Raickovic and Sahil Suhaimi both made their debuts for Sarawak with coach David Usop hoping that the point marked a change in their fortunes.
“They have been with us for just three days in training and this was their first match,” said David.
“We were winning balls in the midfield with Raickovic controlling play and making passes, while Sahil has got the speed but the pitch affected him.”