Just A Few Things: KL Vs. PKNP
Credit: Malaysian Football League
Triple Blitz
PKNP did not know what exactly hit them. But whatever it was, it all started from their own mistakes. A low cross came in from the right should’ve been routinely dealt with. Somehow, a miscommunication between PKNP keeper Asyraf Omar & defender Fadhil Idris allowed the ball to escape Asyraf’s clutches and the ball, to their horror, went towards the path of Paulo Josue for the easiest of tap-ins.
What transpired next was beyond everyone’s imagination. KL scored another two goals in the next four minutes to go three up thanks to Guilherme De Paula. Sometimes he can draw ire from KL fans, but he showed why he can be counted upon. He got his head on Zhafri Yahya’s cross from the right and the resulting header deflected off the unfortunate PKNP right-back Filemon Standly to make it 2-0.
PKNP barely recovered when it got a lot worse. Guilherme was bought down by the panicking Asyraf that won KL a penalty. Up stepped the Brazilian to score KL’s 3rd of the night. Very late in the match, Guilherme completed his own triple blitz during a break by brilliantly starting his run inside his own half to receive Paulo Josue’s through pass and coolly finished off the movement and the match. It was a too huge of a mountain to climb for PKNP in the end while KL climbed above them in the table after winning this crucial relegation six-pointer.
Mixed Up Roles
PKNP had to tear up their original gameplan of high press once they were stunningly down 3-0 with just 18 minutes passed. They decided to make an early change in the process by taking off G. Mugenthirran for midfielder Al-Fateh Afandi, going from a 4-1-4-1 to a 4-4-2 with Yashir Pinto joining Giancarlo Rodriguez up top. Yashir Pinto is expected to be that deep-lying forward to help the midfield. But it was Giancarlo instead to shoulder that task.
Perhaps it is to offer more physicality to keep hold of the ball. He did that well, but it’s afterwards that became the problem. You’re going have to be quite agile to get the ball moving forward a lot quicker or at least pass to a nearer teammate. But Giancarlo, despite his best efforts, couldn’t offer the mobility. A man his size has to be near the box waiting to pounce on a chance and Pinto should be the one helping deep. Giancarlo showed why he should be the one in the box when he scored PKNP’s sole goal when he pounced on KL keeper, Faridzeuan Kamaruddin’s error eight minutes from injury time.
Razor Ramon
If there is perhaps one positive from PKNP, is their new foreign import, Ramon Da Silva. The Brazilian winger looked tremendously fast and had the flair to dribble his way into the KL final third. He showed glimpses of brilliance and looked as though he may give left-back Azmi Muslim some trouble early in the match before disaster struck for PKNP.
Da Silva tried to make things happen with his dribbling. There were a few times he was so close to do so, only for either he was unable to beat the last defender or saw his shot going off-target. Perhaps PKNP at least have reason to be excited about their new Brazilian winger.
Sayonara Karube-san
It was announced after the match that KL’s Japanese midfielder, Ryutaro Karube will be leaving as the PKNP game is his last in a KL shirt. The result was a perfect way for Karube’s send-off. And he marked his last game with a solid performance. He put in a fine shift by managing his game well. Knowing when to press, laying off simple passes and held the midfield line together along with Darko Markovic to protect the backline just as PKNP was going offensive in the 2nd half. He was committed and kept it simple throughout the whole 90 minutes as out of all the games he has played for KL this year, this was perhaps his best.
Close To A Great Start
There were cheers when Ahmad Fakri Saarani (AKA Lord Fakri) made his KL debut when he was the first sub to be bought on as he replaced Ashri Chuchu near the hour mark. With the score 3-0, it would be a great way to cap off the night if the cult figure of Malaysian football got himself a goal. Agonizingly, he was oh so close to do so a few minutes after his introduction.
KL caught PKNP on the break and Paulo Josue held up play until Fakri bombed down the left to receive the Brazilian’s through pass. With a neat touch to position the ball to go near the centre, all he had to do was to beat Asyraf Omar. But the PKNP keeper played spoiler by holding his ground and stopped Fakri’s shot with his left leg. Can you imagine the social media reaction if Lord Fakri did score?