Just A Few Things: Sabah Vs. UiTM
Credit: MFL
Creative Differences
It was a crucial six-pointer battle at Kota Kinabalu where both sides needed a win to boost their survival hopes. UiTM though needs it more as they are six points from the safety zone. However, Sabah, heading into this game at 10th place, were more than deserving winners thanks to the quality at their disposal.
Sabah easily opened up the UiTM defence to the point where even their South Korean defender Park Tae-su ran through the defence with no UiTM defender following his run to score Sabah’s third. Sabah’s creative forces must’ve felt they were being treated to an exciting carnival because they absolutely made use of their abilities to cause their opponents so much grief. Therefore, the 4-0 scoreline is definitely 100% deserving.
And if you compare to how UiTM’s own attackers did, the difference couldn’t be starker. UiTM easily wasted promising attacks whether it’s through a counter or getting inside Sabah’s box. They were let down so much thanks to their poor, wayward passing and their decision-making. Not only that, who exactly in that UiTM line-up could the team rely on for creativity? Because based on this performance, it doesn’t look like they have one. As a result, their Ghanaian striker Nana Poku was left isolated all the time while Sabah keeper Robson Rendy had an almost quiet night by only making three saves where only one of those shots troubled him at all.
Perhaps it’s no wonder why UiTM has been so poor so far this season. It seems the problems in the squad goes beyond just resting Frank Bernhardt as it’s now eight defeats in nine games for the Lion Troops as they get further and further from safety with more matchdays going by. As for Sabah, they showed that they don’t intend to go away from the Super League anytime soon.
Saddil Up
The best of all Sabah’s attackers had a fun night. Indonesian winger Saddil Ramdani took his saddle, got on the horse and proceeded to trample all over UiTM’s defence with a stellar performance thanks to his slick passing, fancy footwork and creativity. Saddil ended the night with a goal and two assists to his name. He scored the second albeit it was off a deflection but it was his two assists for Sabah’s third and fourth that stood out from his performance.
Receiving the ball from Tae-su, Saddil sees Tae-su continuing his run to the box and cleverly quickly flicked the ball to the defender’s path with one touch to return it before the South Korean slams the ball to the roof of the net from close range. And if you think that was clever, Saddil’s assist for the fourth was not just smart, but it was also downright cheeky.
Receiving the ball by the edge of the box, Saddil glanced over his shoulder and saw substitute Bobby Gonzales had space on the right. Having been closed down and knowing a normal pass would be blocked, Saddil’s quick-thinking saw him backheeling the ball to Gonzales, who then proceeded to perfectly place his shot beyond Dominik Picak’’s reach and into the net to make the scoreline all the sweeter. But the night belongs to Saddil, who definitely is the man-of-the-match.
Jovial Johnson
With Sabah labouring throughout the season so far, perhaps it’s no surprise Liberian striker Sam Johnson is one of the key players that have been struggling to spark the fire up front with only one goal to his name. Johnson could’ve doubled his tally early on in the match where he saw his glancing header saved by Picak. But eventually, he did get his second goal of the season. He was at the right place when Picak couldn’t keep hold of Amri Yahyah’s header and Johnson reacted quickly to put the rebound away from close range.
Johnson then became the provider for the second goal. Being blocked off from goal just inside the box, Johnson sees Saddil coming towards him and opts to lay the ball off for him to put Sabah two-nil up. Even though he wasn’t the most stand-out performer, Johnson will surely be pleased with himself for his contributions to this big victory.
Dan Lain-lain?
For someone who is 40 years old, Amri Yahyah sure doesn’t look his age. And this is said in a positive way. Amri rolled back the years when he ran around the left half-space with tireless energy. He gave the runaround to the UiTM defence as they kept guessing what he could do next. It was his header that led to Sabah’s opener and he could’ve got a goal himself just after the hour mark with a spectacular attempt that just sailed over the bar. Even though he didn’t get a goal, Amri should be proud of himself for causing so much grief to that UiTM backline.
Alto Linus deputized at left-back for the injured Dendy Lowa, but the midfielder was solid throughout the night when it came to defending and also provided the cross that led to the first goal of the night. Syukri Baharun did well to be the ‘destroyer’ in midfield and even substitute Azzizan Nordin was looking bright on his return. Although he should’ve won a penalty, the referee waved it off.
As for UiTM, to provide a picture of how any of their players did, substitute Hardee Samsuri is the only player that can walk away proud. The midfielder injected energy in the middle of the park as he courageously took on the Sabah defence by running at them with the ball. But he is the only positive from UiTM’s horrible night at the Likas Stadium.
