Kedah pay heavy price for Malaysia Cup draw
KEDAH paid a heavy price in grinding out a 1-1 draw against Felda United in the Malaysia Cup semi-final first leg yesterday as two regulars will be suspended for Saturday’s return match in Alor Star.
With Felda denying Kedah a win thanks to Hadin Azman’s 87th-minute equaliser, coach Nidzam Adzha Yusof now has to plan for the second leg without midfielder Liridon Krasniqi and defender Khairul Helmi Johari, who both picked up a second booking at the Tun Abdul Razak Stadium.
“Firstly, I have to praise my players for following instructions and sticking to the plan. We tried to dominate the second half but came under pressure towards the end,” said Nidzam.
“Our plan was not to lose here and we achieved our aim to get a goal but at the cost of two players who will be suspended for the second leg.
“We have to win the next match at Darulaman Stadium to get to the final and we must take advantage of playing on home ground and in front of our passionate supporters.”
Kedah could have taken a 1-0 lead home when Sandro Mendonca scored a penalty in the 62nd minute but Nidzam rued his team’s failure to pick up Hadin at the far post which allowed him to head in from a corner-kick.
“I warned the players that Felda are dangerous at set-pieces and that is something we have to work on for the second leg,” added Nidzam.
Felda coach B. Sathianathan felt a draw was a fair result and is confident his team can score in Alor Star to go through.
“If they can score here then we also can score there. I am satisfied with the draw because both teams had chances to score,” said Sathianathan.
“Kedah’s experience at this level helped them today, but I have faith in my players for the next game where we have nothing to lose.”
After no goals in the first half, Syazwan Zainon earned a penalty for Kedah when he was fouled by Safwan Hashim in the box and Mendonca calmly fired into the top corner from the spot in the 62nd minute for his seventh goal in the Malaysia Cup.
It looked like Kedah had done enough until Hadin popped up at the far post to head in a cornerkick taken by Wan Zack Haikal Wan Nor with three minutes remaining for the equaliser. Devinder Singh