Just A Few Things: Selangor Vs. Pahang

Credits: Pahang FA

Pahang’s Attack Class, Selangor Falls Flat

When the line-ups came out, one particular name stood out: Patrick Cruz. The Brazilian have not started since he picked up an injury around May and was slotted straight into the line-up. So, Pahang got Cruz & Austin Amutu as the front two and Norshahrul Idlan Talaha & Mohamadou Sumareh as the wingers. This was a recipe for a dynamic masterclass because they trampled all over the Selangor defence

Norshahrul dismantled Amirul Ashraf on the left-wing as he made mazy runs and dribbles that caused one or two more Selangor players to go full panic mode to stop his runs. Sumareh though given a hard time by K. Kannan, was his usual tenacity self once he got ahead of the Selangor left-back. The presence of Patrick Cruz alone unnerved the defence and that allowed pressure off Amutu to make runs into the box to exert his dominance.

The threat level was so overwhelming that the Selangor backline looked confused on who to keep an eye on when it was clear Pahang had the upper hand and they had to resort to some last-minute panicked defending to prevent them from shooting.

Pahang kept bombarding the final third so it was strange that they only had two goals to show it. They could’ve scored me had Amutu not shot wide with a clear sight on goal and Cruz wasted Sumareh’s good work when he headed his cross off-target with a gaping goal at his mercy. Although, Cruz redeemed himself by scoring Pahang’s second from a penalty thanks to Amutu being a nuisance that drew a foul by Alfonso De La Cruz. Like how Brazil defended against Belgium’s front three, Selangor had no answer to contain Pahang’s fearsome four.

The Wall Of Kuantan

Other than the attack, the central defence and midfield also should be commended for their solid performance. Safuwan Baharudin & Nor Azam Azih did well to shield their backline. Saiful Ridzuwan and even Amri Yahyah had some trouble getting the passes out from midfield to their wingers or Rufino Segovia. And even if the ball goes through them, they have Muslim Ahmad & Bunyamin Umar to thank for clearing the danger.

The central defending pair was brave by really getting in there to commit tackles to win the ball back from a precarious position. Almost every time Selangor had a promising attack, you can count on these two to cut out before their opponents can do anything about it. Oh, and something to note that Muslim & Bunyamin won most of the aerial battles against Rufino. What PKNS’ Rodney Celvin & Azmizi Azmi failed to do was what Muslim & Bunyamin did so successfully by stifling the Spanish hotshot.

Oh, let’s not forget Faisal Rosli & captain Matthew Davies for being close on D. Kugan & Ilham Armaiyn to annoy them down on the wings too. Every Pahang player put in a shift. They played like a team and they deserved this victory.

Evan Should’ve Started

It’s still baffling that in a crucial cup final, Syahmi Safari was still placed as a central or an attacking midfielder. Head coach Nazliazmi Nasir may get away with this in the previous matches, but in such a big match like this, the set-up was brutally exposed. Syahmi didn’t do anything worthwhile being in the midfield trio and was often got bettered by Safuwan or Nor Azam. When he slotted into his preferred right-wing position, he looked much better. And that is because of Evan Dimas introduction.

Since Evan came on, Selangor looked much, much better going forward. Evan added more dimension in midfield to distribute the ball and often found his teammates making the runs or being in good positions to launch a threatening attack. He was able to take some of the responsibility off the deep-lying playmaker role in Saiful. He was a rare bright spot in a field of Selangor murkiness. Selangor carved out a few decent openings since Evan came on but some luck, defending and Helmi Eliza’s composure shut them out late on. Imagine if Evan did play the full 90.

Willian Pacheco Was Missed

Nazliazmi will be questioned once again about what went down in the semi-final 2nd leg against PKNS. Let’s recap: When time ticked down, it was becoming more and more obvious that Selangor are heading to the final. But Nazliazmi paid the price for taking too long to make changes when Willian Pacheco fell injured around 70 minutes of that match and resulted in the big Brazilian defender missing out the final

Selangor missed that towering presence to give that Pahang attack a tough time. He definitely would’ve used his big body to get the better of either Cruz or Amutu and stop them from getting a sniff on goal. But because he was absent, the Selangor defense was messy, agitated and uncoordinated. The influence he had at least would’ve helped and give the backline some chance to stop Pahang’s attackers.