Just A Few Things: Selangor Vs. Pahang

Credit: MFL

Pahang’s Audacious Move

Pahang head coach, Dollah Salleh has done perhaps no other head coach/manager has dared to do. Dollah audaciously changed his entire line-up by fielding almost all his back-up charges while retaining a few of his first-teamers Mohamadou Sumareh, Lazarus Kaimbi, Faisal Abdul Halim & Safuwan Baharudin on the bench as the other regulars were given a rest.

It is perhaps either a testament to how much faith Dollah has in his back-up charges, or that he surely has an eye on the FA Cup semi-final 2nd leg away at Perak or a bit of both. Though after tonight, he should’ve put two or three regulars into the starting line-up because…

A Limp Case

Sadly, none of the Pahang back-up charges provided a solid case to Dollah for a starting position. It was business as usual for the Red Giants as they played their usual attacking football and duly put Pahang’s B team to the sword. Once Khyril Muhymeen scored the first goal of the match by heading in Sandro Mendonca’s free-kick, the floodgates opened and Selangor duly netted another three without answer.

A familiarity issue could well be the main problem to the Tok Gajah back-up squad. The only people in that changed starting 11 that came out with any credit is striker Kogileswaran Raj who launched a fantastic strike into the far top corner that left Selangor keeper, Mohd Khairulazhan no chance and Afif Amiruddin whose few crucial interventions prevented a far worse scoreline. Once Safuwan & Sumareh came on, Pahang looked far better and was able to add another goal thanks to Sumareh’s floating header to close the gap to two goals with 13 minutes to go.

Though the comeback grinded to a halt when Selangor scored their fifth minutes later. Selangor’s intricate football left the Pahang players lost in how to stop it as they leave Shah Alam after being handed a brutal lesson.

Incredible Ifedayo

The scary part about Ifedayo Olusegun’s performance tonight was that he could’ve scored at least two more goals. Alas, he is forced to settle with just a hat-trick, but the Nigerian forward is proving to be a great hit and surely a strong contender for mid-season signing of the season. He has now scored seven goals in Selangor’s last three home games and he is showing no signs of stopping.

Ifedayo was able to get his shot away and a deflection took it over Pahang’s stand-in keeper, Remezy Che Ros for his first. He then beat the offside trap and rounded Remezy for his second before half-time. Ifedayo even assisted where immediately after the restart, he cuts the ball back from the incoming Endrick Dos Santos for Selangor’s fourth.

In between Selangor’s fourth goal and Pahang’s first goal, Ifedayo had two glorious chances, but he got his footwork all wrong in the first chance and somehow couldn’t get his head on the ball in the second one at close range thanks to Afif’s presence.

Ifedayo finally then put the game to bed nine minutes after Pahang’s second when he coolly slotted a low shot past Remezy and marked his hat-trick with an acrobatic celebration. He could’ve scored a fourth had he not somehow dragged his shot wide with the goal in front of him. Despite the missed chances, overall it was another great night at Shah Alam for Ifedayo.

Selamat Kembali

With Pahang’s unfamiliar starting 11 taking the most focus, another thing eye-catching was Selangor’s bench. While the 5-2 win made the night a whole lot better, the Red Giants received a huge boost. They welcomed not one, two, but four players back.

Syahmi Safari, Syazwan Zainon & Halim Saari all came back from injury since the last international break. Syahmi & Halim were eventually bought on with welcome arms from the Selangor faithful while Syazwan has to wait for his return. As for the other returnee, the maligned figure of Michal Nguyen replaced the suspended Taylor Regan in the starting 11 and did an Ok job in holding the line with Ashmawi Yakin. The returns will surely be uplifting for the Red Giants to finish strong in the league in the last four league games.

Back On The Road To Bukit Jalil

There may be questions about Dollah’s decision to change the entire line-up, but his reasons are understandable. With the title race long gone as usual and looks set going to Johor Darul Takzim again, Pahang has eyes on the FA Cup semi-final second leg to finish off Perak who, according to renowned football journalist, Keeshaanan Sundaresan on Twitter, looked knackered after narrowly coming away with a 3-2 win at bottom-placed FELDA United.

While the reserves were handed some brutal experience, the first teamers will be rejuvenated for the crucial clash at Ipoh. They have a good advantage over Perak with the score currently at 3-1 where defender Herold Goulon wrote himself into local football folklore scored an outrageous free-kick that garnered international attention. With the scoreline in their favor and a team full of their regulars being fresh, it’s hard to see Pahang bottling it. The Tok Gajah are so close to reaching their third consecutive FA Cup final and winning the trophy will vindicate Dollah’s head-scratching decision on this night.