Just A Few Things: Selangor Vs. Perak

Credit: Selangor FA

There Was Calm, And Then…

Given what has happened in the first half, everyone was hoping for more of the same after seeing some bright football displayed. Nor Hakim Hassan had the easiest of tap-ins to put Perak in the lead, but Sandro immediately equalized for the home side via one of his trademark free-kicks.

But the second half proved that all it takes to spark tempers was just one incident. Amri Yahyah didn’t take too kindly on how he was fouled and took it out on the offender Leandro Dos Santos. Afterwards, the cards are flying everywhere. It all started with Nurridzuan Abu Hassan getting a second yellow card for an off-the-pitch incident with Wander Luiz.

Then the referee acted like Oprah Winfrey by giving any offender the yellow card with Wander Luiz, Firdaus Saiyadi and Selangor substitute Sean Eugene Selvaraj were among the players getting booked, though some yellows were questionable. It wind up being a high-tension match, but it’s for the wrong reasons.

Aduhai, Nuri…

But there was one moment of madness that would surely overshadow the whole match. It’s bad enough he got sent off and sent off following an off-the-ball incident with Wander Luiz, somehow Nurridzuan may have landed himself in even deeper and hotter water after TV cameras caught him showing the middle finger to the Perak fans as he was walking off the pitch.

There’s no way anyone can defend him from that shambolic behavior. Head coach B. Sathianathan apologized for his actions. There’s no doubt Nuriddzuan will have to face the music after this.

Couldn’t Make Them Pay

Perak will be kicking themselves for not taking advantage of the situation fully. Obviously, they had most of the ball since Nurridzuan’s red card. Perak head coach Mehmet Durakovic reacted by making a positive quickfire double sub, bringing on the returning Brendan Gan for Firdaus Saiyadi and then replacing Leandro for livewire winger Khairil ‘Beto’ Anuar.

The changes did have an effect on energy. Perak was chasing for that lead and expectedly put Selangor under the pressure. The problem was bafflingly, that they couldn’t carve any clear-cut chances. Selangor could’ve punished them against the run of play at least two times had their final pass not let them down. For Perak, it’s their 6th draw in eight league games and now turning into the Malaysian Valencia CF.

Losses Everywhere

Given that tempers flaring, this match felt like a warzone, because both sides have experienced crucial losses for future match. Selangor though suffered the most. With Nuri facing further impending trouble, Amri Yahyah is suspended for accumulated yellows thanks to the Leandro altercation and Taylor Regan walked off with an injury again. Following spells on the sidelines for Wan Zack Haikal, Rufino Segovia & Endrick Dos Santos, Selangor’s depth is surely stretched to their limit.

Perak themselves also lost a key player in striker Gilmar through injury just before half-time. As a result, Durakovic had to place Shahrel Fikri as a centre-forward with Gilmar’s replacement, J. Partiban moving into his preferred right-wing position. While Partiban looked lively and slick, Perak may have missed Gilmar as a target-man when they were looking to make use of their one-man advantage.