SARAWAK’S DEFEAT TO SELANGOR UNITED SPARK CONCERN
February 19, 2019
Sarawak FA’s defeat to newly promoted Selangor United has got fans of the team concerned.
Being newly promoted, Selangor United were unlikely favourites for the full three points but they prevailed and did it with players of Sarawak disputing what they call as poor refereeing.
Enforcing Sarawak’s surprise defeat was the pre-season result between the two which ended with Sarawak winning it 2-1 with a goal each from Muamer Salibasic and Abdul Rahim.
This time around, Sarawak fell behind as early at the 7th minute, and despite being able to peg back the score through Hudson Dias, Sarawak found themselves behind again when a penalty was awarded to the Klang valley side in the 75th minute.
The referee of the match then decided to halt the game due to weather conditions which were unfavorable.
Upon the restart, Sarawak looked like a refreshed side and scored the equalizer.
Bobby Gonzales rounded the keeper before pushing in what could be noted as the best goal of the game.
However the joy didn’t last
as a last ditch attack from Selangor United saw the home side eventually scoring
and winning the game in injury time.
The injury time goal broke the hearts of Sarawak
fans.
Since the match was also streamed live, Sarawak
football fans could see how Sarawak had played and comments poured after the
match.
While some blamed bias refereeing for the
defeat, the echoes that Sarawak didn’t perform as expected were also equally
loud.
Many impatient fans were quick to point out that
Sarawak needs to improve their tactics, giving hints that Sarawak head coach
Anai Igang needs to diversify his tactical approach.
Others pointed out that the
midfielders of Sarawak needed to work harder as they were too weak to challenge
Selangor United’s midfield.
Another crowd of football fans thought that 20
year old goalkeeper, Andy Nicholas, was far from ready for top flight football
like the Liga Premier.
Regardless, Anai will have a lot of soul
searching to do before the massive derby game between Sabah and Sarawak at
Stadium Negeri this weekend as fans of Sarawak FA are expecting a comfortable
win at Stadium Negeri.
This article is brought to us by our Sports Writers Club resident columnist – Cyril Dason.
