Kota Kinabalu: Sabah FC roared past Terengganu FC 4-0 in the Super League tie at Sultan Mirzan Zainal Abidin Stadium on Friday.
It was another shooting practice for Sabah FC following their 7-0 thrashing of Kelentan FC four days earlier.
This time it took only six minutes for Ramon Machado to open the scoring with a well-executed bicycle kick after receiving a cross from Rizal Ghazali.
The second came in the 29th minute when Saddil Ramdani let fly a stiff grounder to beat the Terengganu goalkeeper at the far post.
Sabah FC went three-up five minutes before the first half whistle after Miguel Angel Cifuentes was given time and space to shoot just outside the box following another pass from Rizal Ghazali.
Any chance for Terengganu to make a comeback in the second half was dashed in the 48th minute when Jafry Firdaus Chew tapped in Ramon’s cross from close range.
The closest the home side came to scoring was in the 73rd minute when Nor Hakim Hassan intended cross hit the post and Muslihuddin Mat Zaid’s shot from the rebound was denied by Khairul Fahmi Che Mat’s leg at the far post.
Datuk Ong Kim Swee praised the team for the comfortable win and believed the three goals scored in the first half took the fight out of the Terengganu players.
“We took our chances well in the first half and after the third goal, I believe that made it difficult for Teregganu to make a comeback.
“All the players deserved to be praised, especially those who had just returned from national duty, ” he said after the match.
The three points also help the team to close the gap on Kedah FC to two points but Kedah have a game in hand.
“This (win) has put some pressure on Kedah. We have to keep our focus one game at a time and must make sure we won’t lose any points after this.”
Meanwhile, Terengganu FC head coach Tomislav Steinbruckner admitted Sabah FC were the better team and outplayed them on the night.
“They destroyed us right from the start. They scored three in the first half and could easily be 3-0 inside the opening 15 minutes as I remember. They were simply faster in every challenge and stronger, better in their passes and ideas.
“The loss also highlighted the importance of the four defenders we are missing today but this is no excuse for the defeat,” he said.
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