KL amaze coach

KUALA Lumpur’s surprise 2-0 Malaysia Cup win over Pahang on Tuesday, despite resting five key players, has given the city side a boost when they return to their Premier League promotion challenge today.

Perlis are the visitors to the Selayang Stadium as coach Ismail Zakaria looks to bridge fifth-placed KL’s five-point gap to leaders Malacca.

After new signings Jonathan Cantillana and Diego Inostroza finally found their rhythm against Pahang, with the former hitting the post and then scoring, Ismail said he hopes the two Chile-born players can lead the team’s promotion charge.

“I knew it would take some time for Cantillana and Inostroza to adapt to the team and on Tuesday, they put in their best performance so far,” said Ismail.

"The Malaysia Cup win was timely after we lost two straight matches (against Selangor and Malacca) although the league is still our priority.”

Ismail made five changes for the Pahang match as he gave goalkeeper Soffuan Tawil his first start while full-backs Zaiful Hakim and Isma Alif Salim along with midfielder Hardee Shamsuri also impressed to give Ismail food for thought ahead of the Perlis game.

However, goalkeeper Badrulzaman Halim, captain Ahmad Azlan Zainal and midfielder Irfan Zakaria are among those Ismail may restore to the side.

Only five points separate the top five teams in the Premier League with leaders Malacca looking to bounce back from Tuesday’s 3-2 defeat to Negri Sembilan in the Malaysia Cup when they host DRBHicom.

Promotion challengers Negri and Johor face off in Paroi while FA Cup runners-up PKNS, reeling from a 4-1 mauling by Perak, meet Sabah in a tricky tie at Likas. By Devinder Singh