Just A Few Things: Selangor Vs. Perak

A Rec-Kon-ing Midfield

Head coach Karsten Neitzel has once again rung some changes to the side that perhaps was unlucky to lose against Kedah in the previous matchday. He made two changes with A. Namathevan at right-back over Syahmi Safari while Manuel Konrad is handed his full main team debut having played a few games for the 2nd team.

Selangor employed a 4-4-2 dynamic diamond formation and it looks they may have a solution for stability. The midfield was key in Selangor’s victory as they overran the central area of the pitch. The midfield diamond of the Konrad, Brendan Gan, Aliff Haiqal & Oliver Buff dominated their Perak counterparts thanks to beautiful technique on the ball and hard working effort to regain possession effectively.

Konrad showed why he is crucial to Neitzel’s plans. Not only an able holding midfielder by destroying Perak’s passage of play, the German also supported the more advanced players by carrying the ball forward and played simple yet incisive passes to keep the attack going, even when he was under pressure. Konrad looked super composed and that in turn had an effect on his teammates to calmly continue the play. Overall, he did a great job being the Anchor Man to his fellow midfielders further up.

Brendan Gan meanwhile seems to relish his role as a ‘false winger’. Deployed on the right side of midfield, the captain is also soon running down the right wing usually to support Namathevan and deployed a good number of crosses from the flank that gave the Perak defence something to think about. Haiqal continues to be solid though he still needs to work on his offensive capabilities while Buff, on the tip of the diamond being his usual creative best though not as prominent compared to his previous outings. Could we have finally seen what Neitzel truly wants the team to do? Perhaps. It’s only the first match where these four midfielders played together, but the signs are promising.

Ifedayo Needed This

Nigerian striker Ifedayo Olusegun had been underwhelming this season heading into this match. The usually-reliable forward only scored two goals so far and he needs a kick up his backside to finally get his season underway. And that is exactly what happened for Ifedayo to finally get his campaign up and running. Ifedayo was in the right place at the right time when he had an easy tap-in to put away Jordan Ayimbila’s brilliant low cross. However, replays showed it should’ve been disallowed as Ifedayo was clearly offside.

The penalty that led to Ifedayo’s second was also questionable where replays were inconclusive whether Leandro truly did catch Buff prior to touching the ball. Nevertheless, Ifedayo coolly stepped up to send Perak keeper Hafizul Hakim the wrong way for a two-goal lead heading into half-time. Ifedayo completed his hat-trick by being in the right place at the right time when Brendan flicked Mukhairi Ajmal’s corner towards the Nigerian who was at the far post for an easy header. Oh, how Ifedayo truly needs this.

Young Defenders Maintain Form

After a strong showing against Kedah last time out, it was interesting to see if the young players, especially defenders Sharul Nazeem and Jordan Ayimbila can maintain that form against the Bos Gaurus. And they certainly did. Sharul Nazeem continued his good work from keeping Kpah Sherman quiet in the last round by making life difficult for Guilherme De Paula. Sharul calmly knew when to rush forward and disrupt Perak’s attack, made short and simple passes to start the attack and also formed a solid partnership for Safuwan Baharudin. Other than losing focus that led to Perak’s goal late on, it was another solid performance for the afro kid.

As for Ayimbila, the Ghanaian defender was tremendous in attack and defence. Other than the assist for Ifedayo’s first goal, he made it hard for Amirul Azhan to keep him shackled as he bombed down the left like he did against Kedah. The Perak right-back was usually beaten on his side as Ayimbila made use of his physique to get the ball first. On the defensive side, Ayimbila taking on J. Partiban was an enticing battle. Partiban was surely deployed to match Ayimbila in pace, but he also found it difficult to carry out his role as Ayimbila usually got the better of him to the point where Partiban switched flanks in some parts of the match. Has Ayimbila made the left-back position his? Because given how he has been performing recently, R. Dinesh would be having a tough time getting that spot back.

Wasted...

…In more ways than one. While Perak had a much better second half, they were second best throughout the 90 minutes. They had an awful first half and while Ifedayo’s first two goals were questionable, the goals were nothing short of what Selangor deserved. Perak only had two shots throughout the first half and to their credit, both of them did test Selangor keeper Mohd Khairulazhan but that’s all they had during that lacklustre period.

To his credit, head coach Chong Yee Fatt made a few tweaks at half-time by employing Careca further up to provide more aid up front and help support De Paula who looked isolated, mirroring how Selangor set their front two of Ifedayo & Danial. Yee Fatt then brought on forward Zulkiffli Zakaria for Sergio Ezequiel Aguero around the hour mark and had him join up Careca & De Paula for a supposed front three. The effect was evident. Perak had at least four great chances to pull one back, making the Selangor defence nervous as they looked to punish Selangor for their continued wastefulness up front to kill the game off.

But Aguero, De Paula, Zulkiffli and Partiban all wasted glorious chances during Perak’s most brightest spell midway sometime during the second half to make Selangor pay and in the end, they got punished themselves when they conceded the third. Substitute Farid Khazali did get a consolation following great work from De Paula, but there’s no denying who deserved the win in the end as Perak were left ‘wasted’ like how you see your character die in ‘Grand Theft Auto’.

THIS ARTICLE IS POWERED BY CYBERLYNX INTERNATIONAL COLLEGE: EDUCATION FOR THE NEW MILLENNIUM