Kota Kinabalu: Sabah FC’s head coach Martin Stano praised his players despite the 1-2 loss in the second leg of the Malaysia Cup semi-final to Sri Pahang FC at the Temerloh Municipal Council Stadium on Sunday night.
With the victory, Sri Pahang FC will go on to meet Johor Darul Ta’zim FC in the final on April 24 with a 3-2 aggregate win as they drew 1-1 in the first leg semi at Likas Stadium on Jan 18.
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In a typical tense cup competition, both teams found it hard to find the opening in the first half. The match only came to life in the second half when Park Taesu conceded an own goal in the 68th minute.
Sabah FC’s response was swift as Joao Pedro teed up for S. Kumaahran to score the equaliser in the 72nd minute.
It was end to end stuff in the final minutes of normal time, but again both teams were unable to find the winner and it went on until four minutes before the end of extra time when Kpah Sherman who had missed several opportunities earlier on made amends by netting the decider.
Martin apologised to the fans for the loss and said his players had given their all and it was not easy to play the second leg away from home.
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“We knew it was never easy to play the second semi-final in an away game and at a full stadium.
“I think overall it was a great game. We struggled a bit in the first half as we tried to find the combination and that got us under pressure.
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“In the second half, despite Park scoring an own goal, it kind of helped us to get back into the game and we managed to score the equaliser and made it to extra time.
“I can’t really complain about the players. They did all they could. They fought to the very end and it was just unlucky today,” he said.
He also played down the loss was due to Gabriel Peres’ injury during the game that saw him being substituted by Park Taesu in the 62nd minute.
“Injury is part of the game and he has to be replaced. Park has also only just come back from injury as well and lacked match fitness but he did his job.”