Kota Kinabalu: Sabah FC were knocked out of the Malaysia Cup after losing 0-1 to Perak FC in the return leg of the quarter-final tie in Ipoh, Monday night.
It was their failure to convert their scoring opportunities that cost them the match.
Both teams tried their best to find the net right from the start, and it was Sabah FC who had the best chance to go in front in the early stages.
Ramon Machando saw his shot from a tight angle hit the side netting in the 13th minute followed by Gabriel Peres’ free header over the crossbar less than two minutes later.
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Sabah FC piled on the pressure especially towards the end of the second half to try to get the equaliser.
Ramon had a shot that hit the bar and Darren Lok had his header from close range saved by the Perak goalkeeper while a bicycle kick from Gabriel narrowly missed the target deep into injury time.
With the win, the home side progressed to the semi-final with a 3-2 aggregate and they will next meet JDT FC.
Rhinos head coach Datuk Ong Kim Swee said it was the same old story with the team failing to convert scoring opportunities in the match.
“We tried to make it to the semi-final but it was the same as in Likas. This time we failed to score and we wasted many chances.
“But credit must be given to the Perak team who worked hard and successfully getting the result.
“Congratulation to them and all the best for the match against JDT,” he said after the match.
He admitted that fatigue may have been one of the factors for the loss having played in the AFC Cup less than a week earlier.
His priority now is to prepare the players for the second AFC Cup match against PSM Makassar away in Indonesia on October 5.
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