Kota Kinabalu: Sabah FC missed the chance to register their first win of the Super League season when they were held 2-2 by Immigration FC (IFC) at the Batu Kawan Stadium, Sunday.
Any chance of an easy encounter against the bottom club team went out of the window when the home side took a surprise one-goal lead in the first half.
Ironically, the goal was scored by former Rhino Joao Pedro, who was let go on loan by the management last season despite his proven goal prowess of netting seven goals from nine appearances.
The unmarked Brazilian struck a left foot shot to beat Damien Lim in goal in the 27th minute,Sabah FC could have gone two goals down soon after but Wilmar Jordan’s shot was denied by the crossbar.
An aggressive start in the second half saw Sabah FC equalised through Stuart Wilkin, who smashed home the loose ball in the box after the initial attempt by Jafri Chew hit one the defenders following early Fergus Tierney’s shot that bounced off the crossbar.
Miguel Cifuentes then drove home from close range for Sabah FC to take the lead in the 53rd minute, but another loose marking in the 77th minute allowed Eduardo Sosa to score his team’s second goal.
Sabah FC thought they had snatched a victory late in the game. However, Ajdin Mujagic’s goal was ruled offside by VAR.
Head coach Jean Paul de Marigny admitted the players had a poor start that allowed the opponents to take the initiative in the first half.
“I thought we started a little bit slow as much as we should’ve. The players realised that and knew they needed to be a little bit more aggressive in the second half and be brave with the ball.
“I was very proud of their response and it was two very good goals that we’ve been working on for the last couple weeks,” he said.
