Just A Few Things: PKNS Vs. Kedah

Credit: Malaysian Football League

How Peculiar

Given the history of this fixture, you expect a good number of goals. For the neutrals though, they would  be slightly disappointed as the match ended in a 1-1 draw while PKNS & Kedah saw themselves likely to fall behind Group A leaders Terengganu further or Negeri Sembilan finally get their campaign underway & looking to join in the hunt to advance to the quarter-finals.

The match itself was leaning towards cagey, especially during the opening exchanges of each half. Eventually, the game became lively as time went on in each half. Given the balance of play, perhaps a draw is a fair result.

Going The ‘Right’ Way

It looked like Kedah head coach, Aidil Sharin has instructed the players to focus attacking down on the right side and try to give PKNS left-back, Qayyum Marjoni a work-out. The approach ultimately paid off when Kedah took the lead when the match was crying out a highlight.

Baddrol Bakthiar gets the ball on the right and the cross was perfect to reach Fernando Rodriguez’ as the striker was able to head the ball into the net on 21 minutes. Entering the final 15 of the first half, Kedah increased the intensity as the continued to conjure attacks down on the right. They could’ve got a second a few minutes before half-time from the same flank.

After a brilliant 1-2 between Rizal Ghazali & Zaquan Adha, Rizal then surged into into the box with so much space. He saw Rodriguez free and cuts it back, but somehow the Spaniard puts the shot over. It turned out to be costly because…

Half-Time Influence

Kedah may have had a livewire in Fayadh Zulkifli to call from the bench in case anything goes wrong, but PKNS had an answer to their own. Just before the restart, PKNS head coach K. Rajagobal bought on Tommy Mawat Bada for Jafri Firdaus Chew and the result of that sub was almost instantaneous. 

The winger got his head on Sherman’s cross from the right, only for the ball to trickle agonizingly wide of the far post. The presence of Tommy though and perhaps Rajagobal’s HT team talk contributed enough energy into the team to increase the speed of their attacks. Other than the header, Tommy saw a shot deflected just wide. Then, his resulting corner was met by Sherman near post, only for Alif Yusof to clear it off the line.

In the end, PKNS got the equalizer despite Kedah having a number of bodies back to defend. Romel Morales’ snapshot with his left foot somehow went all the way in. The shot could well be deflected as it looked like Ifwat Akmal was going to cover it. Nevertheless, it was nothing short of what PKNS deserve after a bright spell of the second half as Tommy’s presence played a part in that.

Playing For A Draw? Not Exactly
Kedah though had regained possession approaching the final 15 minutes and they could’ve gone ahead again had Tauffiq Ar-Rasyid getting an amazing hand to Rodriguez’ effort from a corner.

Entering the final five minutes, Rajagobal made a curious decision. Despite evidently giving Kedah something to think about, he opted to bring on Nicholas Swirad for Gabriel Guerra. As a result, the formation changed from a 4-4-2 to a 5-4-1 so you can forgive people that thought why PKNS isn’t going for the win. 

While the five-men defence kept their shape, the front five players made an unexpected approach. They tried to exert extra-high pressure on the Kedah defence to win the ball back immediately in their own half. The change in the defensive system did well to clear whatever cross comes in while the attack were giving Kedah a somewhat tough time. The plan looked like it works on paper, especially when entering the closing stages of the match. But Romel’s goal was as good as it got for PKNS.