Just A Few Things: Selangor Vs. PKNP

Credits: PKNP FC

Unhappy Homecoming

Finally, Selangor has their home back. This fixture marks the first time in two seasons Selangor play their home games at their true home: The Shah Alam Stadium. They were supposed to celebrate their homecoming. Instead, they were inflicted misery by a team not even renowned for goalscoring. With already a consistently troubled defence, they were made to look like fools even more when Hafiz Ramdan dribbled past three defenders before opening the deadlock.

While it was brilliance that gave PKNP the first goal of the night, it was Selangor with their all too familiar errors that awarded the away side a second goal and a third goal that should’ve been disallowed.

What was worrying is that Selangor didn’t even look like a shred of their incisive best when attacking. They looked clueless and short of confidence attempting to break down their opponents. They couldn’t get a proper attack going, even with PKNP right-back Azraei Omar’s sending off on 78 minutes. They never even looked close to cut the deficit. Still the victory was nothing short of what PKNP deserved. They did well enough to take it to Selangor when it mattered the most.

The only positive was Willian Pacheco’s return, when he was bought on with eight minutes to go, although the circumstances could’ve been much better. But the timing of his comeback couldn’t have come at a much better time since Pahang is coming to visit next.

No Plan B

This defeat was much more bitter when you consider looking at the bench named by head coach Nazliazmi Nasir. Selangor was in a worse position since they were without Syahmi Safari, Evan Dimas & Ilham Armaiyn who are all involved in the upcoming Asian Games. In hindsight, recruiting two more players early in the season who will surely be involved in the Asian Games was poor planning given the nature of The Red Giants season.

As a result, the only two attacking players Nazliazmi has were Faizzudin Abidin & Azizul Baharuddin (Midfielder K. Sarkunan falls somewhere in between). So with Selangor trailing at two down and a lack of cutting edge, there was no one he could turn to who could change the game with Faizzudin coming on five minutes after the restart, yielding no influence and K. Kannan now shoehorned as a backup for the left-wing. This match exposes the lack of depth Selangor has. While changes in the background are underway, the on-the-pitch problems must be addressed as soon as possible.

Double Trouble

One name that was notably missing from PKNP’s matchday squad was Franklin Anzite. The big Central African Republic player was a regular in the PKNP line-up but was shoehorned in the centre-forward role despite him being a holding midfielder by trade. But on this night, his absence may be a blessing in disguise. With him out of the match, Fandi comes in and played as a lone striker. Not only he excelled in his role but PKNP also looked much faster and sharper going forward.

The way PKNP attacked was how Selangor usually do in their best days. It was as if the roles were reversed. Hafiz and Fandi Ahmad all combined to create chaos and were rewarded with goals with their fast runs and dribbling. This makes them all the more deadly in the counter attack. Look how Fandi scored when Hafiz won possession in the middle of the park. Fandi evaded Alfonso De La Cruz’ tackle, who was the only defender sitting back, and the forward set off before calmly shooting past Haziq Ridwan in the one-on-one battle.

With Hafiz a livewire, PKNP has another attacker they can count upon through the player (coincidentally) known Fandi Ahmad. Do not sleep on this young striker. Fandi may as well earned a starting position with Franklin moving back in his preferred role should head coach Abu Bakar Fadzim choose to do.

A Pairing To Watch

PKNP’s performance is also thanks to their defensive pairing of Ritus Kjrauklis & Khuzaimi Piee. They not only were fully focused to clear any passes incoming, but they also kept Rufino Segovia quiet. Ritus showed his usual leadership and kept the back tidy and even got a goal for himself (Although at the same time, the goal should’ve been disallowed when a PKNP player collided with Haziq as the ball was in the air).

Khuzaimi showed excellent composure and not let Rufino or Amri Yahyah scare him. We all know how PKNP is defensively brilliant so by the time they were two goals up, they can afford to sit deep and set off on the counter with pace they have at hand going up. Ritus & Khuzaimee, with some help by their holding midfielder Kim Sang-Woo, made life all the more difficult for a toothless Selangor to get anything.