Just A Report: UiTM Vs Sabah

Credit: Sabah FA

They were made to work hard for it, but when that final whistle blew, cue the ecstastic jubilation for the Sabah fans. Finally for Sabah, they emerged as 2019 Premier League champions with two matchdays to go following a 2-1 comeback win at UiTM.

Sabah emerged the better team of the two as they went about going forward. Just a few minutes in, Alto Linus fired a warning shot as his free-kick from the left side took a wicked curl towards the far post where UiTM keeper, Nor Haziq Aris, was equal to it with a fine stop.

Sabah continued their dominance. Aguinaldo and Ricco Nigel Milus spurned great chances to take the lead. Alto should’ve made it 1-0 on 19 minutes when he shot at the side-netting from close range following a brilliant headed set-up by Rodoljub Paunovic.

But Paunovic himself got closer than Alto three minutes later. The Serbian unleashed a powerful free-kick that hit under the bar and out of the goal much to his disbelief.

Looking at the passage of play, you would feel Sabah will get their goal in a matter of time. UiTM hadn’t made Sabah keeper, Rozaimie Rohim sweat at all… Until the 31st minute. 

UiTM won a free-kick just outside the Sabah penalty area and Montengro hitman Zarko Korac smashed the ball into the net by the keeper’s side, whose positioning was questionable at the time. In the process, delivered a further brutal sucker punch to the much more dominant Sabah a few minutes after news broke out that closest title rivals Johor Darul Takzim II has equalized at Negeri Sembilan via Rozaimi Abdul Rahman’s penalty.

It could’ve been a whole lot worse for the visitors six minutes after the restart. Park Yong-Jun was able to break free down on the left, only to see his low shot go agonizingly wide of the far post.

Nevertheless, Sabah continued to knock UiTM’s doorstep. On 57th minute, they got a reward for their domineering efforts when a penalty was given to them for handball. Up stepped Paunovic to calmly send Nor Haziq the wrong way for a deserved equalizer to send the visiting fans wild.

If the cheers for the goal wasn’t loud enough, it was a lot more louder when Sabah got themselves ahead ten minutes later. Nor Haziq completely flapped at Ricco’s corner and to his dismay, the height was just right for Aguinaldo to head the ball into the net to complete the comeback.

UiTM had another chance to play spoiler entering the final 15 minutes. Shortly after his introduction, Zulkiffli Zakaria had a glorious chance. He had a clear sight on goal, but was perhaps ill-advised to his the outside of the foot as the ball curled away from the target much to Sabah’s relief.

In the end, Sabah successfully held on for the win and sealed the Premier League trophy. Even if the off chance Sabah didn’t win the match, they still would be champions after JDT II fell to an eventual 3-1 defeat to Negeri Sembilan.

As the Premier League champions celebrate wildly for a while after full-time, UiTM now has to contend to the fact that the big gap they once had has unbelievably evaporated. An alarming five-game winless run now see them in danger of losing the promotion race , having been blown wide open with Negeri Sembilan’s win over JDT II sees them tying on 28 points while Pulau Pinang and PDRM themselves have a chance too.

UiTM XI:

29 Nor Haziq Aris

4 Benard Agele

5 Syahmi Shukri

6 Nazrin Syamsul (25 Azriddin Rosli, ’61)

9 Maycon Calijuri (12 Afif Asyraf, ’59)

11 Syed Ariff

14 Amer Azahar

16 Shafiq Al-Hafiz

20 Park Yong-Jun (38 Zulkiffli Zakaria, ’76)

21 Faizal Mohd Arif

30 Zarko Korac ©

Subs:

24 Azfar Arif

7 Nik Syafiq Syazwan

19 Aliffikhwan Mazlan

15 Izman Solehin

Bookings: Nazrin Syamsul (’21)

Sabah XI:

30 Rozaimie Rohim

2 Mafry Balang

3 Rawilson Batuil ©

4 Dendy Lowa

8 Azzizan Nordin

9 Rodoljub Paunovic

10 Aguinaldo 

11 Alto Linus (21 Maxsius Musa, ’87)

14 Jenius Karib (18 Azwan Abdul Fattah, ’89)

20 Ricco Nigel Milus

25 Evan Wensley Wenceslaus

Subs:

13 Robson Rendy

5 Muhd Mohd Sahar

18 Azwan Abd Fattah

19 Ummareng Bacok

21 Maxsius Musa

26 Rahman Shah

28 Mazlan Yahya

Bookings: Aguinaldo (’67)