Kota Kinabalu: Sabah FC were brought back down to earth with a 0-1 defeat to Selangor FC at Petaling Jaya City Council Stadium (MBPJ), Sunday night.
The team that hit four past Sri Pahang FC at Likas Stadium a week ago was unable to find the target this time.
As expected, Selangor hoping to avenge their first round defeat and with the support of home fans started more aggressively with relentless moves towards Sabah half.
Rhinos’ skipper Park Taesu almost conceded an own goal in the 6th minute when his header narrowly missed the empty net with Damien Lim off his line.
The home side deservedly took the lead through their import player Ayron Del Valle with a powerful shot that bounced over the line after hitting the crossbar in the 23rd minute.
They continued to attack Sabah’s goal after the opener and Ayron was denied his second when his long range shot was headed clear off the line by Dominc Tan in the 43rd minute.
Sabah FC tried to bounce back at the restart and looked more threatening but were unable to mount any serious attempt at goal.
Their best chance came in the 50th minute when Korean import Kwan Min Ko saw his shot take a slight deflection before being denied by the crossbar.
Despite the loss, Datuk Ong Kim Swee was quite happy with the fighting spirit displayed by the players.
“Of course it is not a good result for us today but we tried to come back after we conceded the goal. That is the positive thing you can see especially in the second half.
“We were pushing very hard but we just couldn’t get the goal. So we really need to improve our performances in away matches and that is our main concern.
“Overall, we competed well and it was an even game, but at the same time we also knew Selangor are not an easy team to beat at home.
“I hope we can bounce back from this because it is very important to keep our momentum,” he said.
He is also confident that the team can still improve on their current fifth position in the league.
“There are still games left to play this season. The top four teams have yet to play each other and that is when they may lose points, so we still have hopes to finish among the top three if of course we are consistent enough.”
