Just A Few Things: Selangor Vs. Kedah
Selangor FC
Red Giants Fallen, Red Eagles Rise
It was all going swimmingly well for Selangor heading into the final 15 minutes. Leading 1-0, all they had to do was to weather the Kedah storm and keep continuing to find the second goal. Then it all fell apart on 78 minutes when even though replays showed Kpah Sherman ran into Tim Heubach’s leg and went down in the process, the referee awarded a penalty to Kedah much to Selangor’s fury. Up stepped the Liberian and he coolly sent Selangor keeper Mohd Khairulazhan the wrong way. It was game on.
That was the second spark Kedah needed after their first spark sometime in the first half failed to yield anything. Since that penalty, Kedah had been knocking on Selangor’s box and just eight minutes since the equalizer, the Red Eagles found their improbable winner. Substitute Azammuddin Akil did well to get into the box and cut it back for Kipre Tchetche who got his shot away for Kedah’s winner.
It wasn’t pretty as Kedah were second best but they wouldn't mind in the end. With Terengganu falling further behind, the win was even more crucial. Kedah is able to keep up with league leaders Johor Darul Takzim as they continue the challenge at the very least. Next up for Kedah is hosting Terengganu who have seen their early charge to the top dissipate after a 3rd match in a row without a win following a 1-1 at Sri Pahang.
The Kids Are Ok
Considering the form Kedah is in now and the caliber they carry in the armory, it was quite eye-opening for Selangor head coach Karsten Neitzel to bring in two of Selangor’s youth products into the fray against a fierce opponent. Forward Danial Asri was handed his first start after a few substitute appearances and defender Sharul Nazeem was handed his full debut partnering Heubach at central defence. So how did they do in the end?
They actually did great. Danial Asri was hard working going forward in attack, and supported Ifedayo Olusegun well. Danial was the one who teed up Oliver Buff for the opener when he slid the pass to the Swiss midfielder. Given his performance, should’ve got one himself had he fully taken advantage of a certain keeper’s slip-up just before half-time and also had he not terribly miskicked Syahmi Safari’s cutback just into the second half when he had so much space. But Danial looked absolutely brilliant and bright before he was subbed off for Shahrel Fikri.
As for Sharul Nazeem, you would think he has already played so many games before this. But this was his debut for the main team and passed with flying colours. He did not shy away from any impending challenge, calm and composed when on the ball or under pressure and even kept Sherman quiet. So despite the result, this was a successful debut for the young defender
As for the other youngsters on the pitch, Jordan Ayimbila looked like a beast bombing down the left from the left-back position and Aliff Haiqal looked solid again in the middle. If there’s one positive Selangor can take away from this, it’s their young players.
Shahril To The Rescue
While you can say the quality of Selangor’s finishing let them down, there were times they actually should’ve scored a few more. This is largely due to Kedah’s man between the sticks, Shahril Saa’ri. Selangor had 17 shots and 11 of them went on-target. Out of all those 11 on-target only one went in. So you can see how absolutely crucial Shahril was in this result? He made ten saves. Yes, TEN saves to keep the score down at 1-0!
He was the busier of the two as he smothered every promising Selangor attack by coming out of his line to catch crosses and corners, read every situation well and while some of those on-target shots were simple saves, Shahril made a few top-notch stops, particularly denying Buff twice and Ifedayo. Though he almost gifted Selangor a second goal and could thank his stars that the ball that came off the pressure from Danial Asri only hit the post and into his hands. Other than that one mishap, his stellar performance was the catalyst to Kedah’s victory and because of this, he is surely the man-of-the-match.
Fresh Legs
While at least two of the subs were enforced from Kedah’s view, the changes made by Aidil Sharin could not have been timed better. Sure Selangor is the better team, but as time went on, it looked like fatigue is gonna set in anytime soon for them. Around the hour mark, Aidil brought on Fayadh Zulkifli & Fadzrul Danel for reliable creative players Rabih Ataya & Baddrol Bakhtiar and they looked battered as they walked off the pitch. Just minutes later, given Fairuz Zakaria’s knock and it’s the third stoppage Kedah can afford to make a sub, Aidil decided to use all his remaining subs by not just bringing on Ariff Farhan to replace Fairuz, but also bringing on Azamuddin Akil for Faizat Ghazli.
Kedah looked much better since the last remaining subs were used as the freshness of the subbed players played a huge role in giving Kedah that edge. Azammuddin in particular was very lively on that right flank as he gave the defenders deployed there something to think about. He was the one who assisted the crucial late winner after brilliantly dribbling into the box. Overall, the subs worked for Aidil and Kedah to get one over Selangor.
What Now?
Other than Shahril’s excellent performance, Selangor really should’ve taken their chances and attacks so much better and looked at what happened in the end. The thing is, almost (And that is the key word here) everything looked great for Selangor. They were giving Kedah the runaround and the fact they didn’t get anything in the end has added more tension to an already tenable season. There’s no doubt Selangor play good football but given how they have been doing so far, something is clearly wrong when the results haven’t gone their way.
A shortened pre-season? Sure. But when other teams such as Kedah & Penang are doing well, questions have to be asked on how Selangor handled it. A mentality thing? Maybe, given how Selangor collapsed here. The personnel they have are not right? Could well be given the balance of the squad doesn’t look right. Wasteful attack? We know for sure that’s one of the reasons given what we witnessed. We could be here all night discussing what is going on with the Red Giants. All we know is that forget any top targets for now, Selangor needs to salvage as many wins as possible fast to save their season… again.
