Selangor gate-crash KL’s party
gate-crashed Kuala Lumpur's homecoming party with a 2-0 win in Cheras yesterday to kick off their Super League campaign on a high.
Rufino Segovia's double gave Selangor bragging rights in the Klang Valley derby as they extended their unbeaten run over KL to 12 matches since 2007.
KL, back at the KL Football Stadium for the first time since 2013, found it difficult to break down a well-organised Selangor team and were also guilty of wasting numerous chances as both sides hit the crossbar in the second half.
Spanish forward Segovia rewarded Selangor for their bright start when he glanced a header from Azamuddin Akil's cross to break the deadlock in the 16th minute before finishing KL off with a fine drive in stoppage-time from a lose ball in the box.
"The senior and young players combined well and in the first half we played well," said Selangor coach P. Maniam, who lost Azamuddin and Ilham Udin Armaiyn to injury during the game.
"In the second half, we didn't dominate as KL pressed and needed to score. But on the counter we looked dangerous."
KL coach Fabio Maciel said he felt his team were unlucky to lose with Selangor scoring from their only two shots on target.
"We made a good game and people can see the result is a win for Selangor but it does not show what happened," said Maciel.
"We created a lot of chances but could not score. I'm happy with what I saw but we have mistakes to correct."
Selangor spurned chances to double their lead after Segovia's first goal when right wing-back D. Kugan sliced an effort wide before Segovia mishit his shot with the KL goal at his mercy just past the half-hour.
It was only after that the KL got going as Paulo Josue and Guilherme De Paula fired over before Selangor left wing-back K. Kannan cleared off the line in the 39th minute from Ashri Chuchu's goal-bound shot.
Selangor's Indonesian midfielder Evan Dimas shot just wide from outside the box upon resumption after half-time while Josue wasted a good chance by firing over from inside the box.
Josue was unlucky not to equalise for KL in the 64th minute when his strike came back off the crossbar before the Brazilian again fired over from close range when Selangor goalkeeper Norazlan Razali only parried Junior Aparecido's free-kick.
Selangor nearly doubled their advantage with 15 minutes to go when substitute M. Tamil Maran flicked a header against the KL bar from a free-kick.
In another match, Pahang and Perak drew 0-0 at the Darulmakmur Stadium in Kuantan.