Kota Kinabalu: Datuk Ong Kim Swee is wary of the threats posed by UiTM FC in the return leg after Sabah FC struggled to beat them 2-1 in the first leg of their Malaysia Cup tie at the UiTM Shah Alam Stadium on Wednesday night.
With Taiki Kagayama as the only foreign import in the starting line-up, the Rhinos were unable to break down the UiTM defence until the 44th minute when Sabah skipper Baddrol Bakhtiar scored with his trademark free-kick taken just outside the box.
They extended their lead in the 70th minute through a strike by second half substitute Maxsius Musa, but the host’s George Attram was able to amend his early misses with an injury time goal after he managed to beat the offside trap before rounding goalkeeper Damien Lim to score.
“In general, the victory was a good result but overall the quality of the game was still not at a level to be proud of.
“There were some obvious weaknesses in the attack where we had created many chances but failed to convert them despite controlling the whole game.
“We therefore can’t take the return match in Likas for granted. We need to grab our opportunities otherwise we will be punished with their counter attack play and early goals, said Ong after the match.
He also revealed that the team are short of senior players due to injury issues.
“We are completely dependent on Taiki Kagayama at the moment as Park Tae Su and Saddil Ramdani are on the injury list while Jose Embalo and Jackson De Souze who are also injured have returned to Portugal and Brazil respectively.”
Meanwhile, the return leg will be played at Likas Stadium on Monday (October 31) and the winner of the tie will progress to the quarterfinal to meet the winner between Penang FC and Kuching FC scheduled on November 6.
