Kota Kinabalu: Sabah FC earned a commanding first leg lead after beating Kuching City FC 3-0 in the Malaysia Cup round of 16 tie at the State Stadium in Kuching, Saturday night.
Brazilian import Ramon Machado continued his goal-scoring form by putting the team ahead as early as in the fifth minute when he received a through ball from Darren Lok before firing past Kuching City FC’s goalkeeper Shaiful Wazizi Mohammad.
Three minutes later, he jumped high above anyone else in the box to head in the second from a Kwang Min Ko cross.
Daniel Ting then extended the lead with a grounder in the 15th minute after the home defence failed to clear the ball in their own box.
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Despite the big win, a cautious Datuk Ong Kim Swee said he is aware of the danger of an upset from Kuching City FC in the second leg scheduled on August 19 at Likas Stadium.
“It was a positive result for us tonight with the three goals advantage but we are not qualified yet and still have the return leg to play for in Kota Kinabalu.
“We all know that anything can happen in the next 90 minutes, therefore we need to remain focused and maintain our good discipline in defence to keep a clean sheet in the next leg,” said the Rhinos head coach.
He also played down their defensive approach in the second half.
“It is normal when we are in the lead as our opponents will put more pressure on us. It is important to ensure that we do not concede and our players absorb the pressure rather well.”
Meanwhile AIdil Sharin Sahak, who was appointed head coach for Kuching City FC to replace Irfan Bakti only on Wednesday, said the early goals had demoralised the players.
“The first 15 minutes or 17 minutes we did not focus and Sabah took their chances. We gave them too much respect. If you look at the goals conceded, they were just too easy.
“After that we played better and better. We made some changes at half time. I think we had more focus on forwards. We did not lose the ball easily and the second half performance was good.”
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