The underdog continue to reign supreme on the second match-day.
After a glut of upsets in Round 1 sent shockwaves throughout the Malaysia Cup normal service was expected to resume in the second match-day of the tournament.
But after the dust begins to settle it seems that forecast wasn’t wasn’t a strictly accurate as giants continued to stutter and unfancied clubs excelled to turn the group stage on its head. Selangor continued the trend, losing to ATM, while Malaysia Super League champions Lions XII were stunned by their Premier League opponents.
Johor Darul Takzim didn’t follow the script though as they eased past Felda United and Kelantan showed why they are one of the favourites to lift the trophy with a comfortable 2-0 win over Terrengganu.
But what else occurred during Round 2 on Saturday?
Group A
Johor FA scored a surprise win after coming from behind to beat Sime Darby 2-1 in Selayang. Karlo Primorac nudged Sime into an early lead but Khairul Ismail equalised mid-way through the first half before he was sent off for handball five minutes later. Being a man down didn’t hinder the Southern Tigers as they held on to a priceless victory after Ridwan Moya pounced five minutes after half time.
Table: Johor move to the top after gaining four points from their first two games, while Sime Darby and ATM second and third respectively. Selangar prop up the rest with just a point to their name.
Group B
PKNS maintained their 100% start with an impressive win over T-Team to remain top of the standings. The Red Ants were the far superior side in Kuala Terengganu and took the lead through Roman Chemelo in the 34th minute but couldn’t transform their dominance into more goals.
Table: Despite registering their first win JDT remain outside the top two on account of T-Team’s superior goal difference, while Felda remain rock bottom after two straight defeats. PKNS sit at the summit as the only team in the competition to win both of their matches thus far.
Group C
Negeri Sembilan and Pahang served up a glowing spectacle for Malaysian football as the Tok Gajahs emerged victorious from an eight-goal thriller in Paroi. Dollah Sallah’s side were the better side a large portion of the game and led 4-1 at one point, only for Sivanesan to add two more goals for the Deers, completing his hat-trick, and reduce the arrears before Amirulhadi Zainal registered his own treble late in the game to make it 5-3 to put the game beyond doubt for the visitors.
Table: Terengganu are rooted to the bottom after a second straight defeat while Pahang rise to the top by the virtue of a better goal difference than Kelantan, who also have four points. Negeri remain hard on their coattails.
Group D
Perak will be kicking themselves after wasting their chance to chalk up a second straight victory by drawing 1-1 with Kedah in Darul Aman Stadium. The Seladangs took control of the game after a dour first half as Khairul Asyraf opened the scoring in the 58th minute and looked set for three points until they conceded a late penalty. Alen Guc stepped up at the death and kept his nerve to earn the Canaries a point with a cooly taken spot kick.
Table: Perak remain top after after one win and a draw from their first two games, while Sarawak jumped to second after they beat Lions XII, who slumped to the bottom. Sandwiched in between are Kedah with this group the one to watch now that every team has put points on the board.
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