Match Preview Super League Vs Melaka United
It has been a tough opening to season 2022 for the City Boys. After 3 matches in the Super League, we only have a point to show gained from the opening day 3-3 draw against Selangor. It was followed by a 3-2 loss away to Kedah, and last Wednesday we surrendered our unbeaten record at the Kuala Lumpur Football Stadium which lasted for 23 matches since September 2019, to Johor DT in the 3-0 defeat. We continue seeking that first win in the league this year but it will not be easy when we entertain Melaka United, who are in a similar predicament, at home on Saturday.
Melaka United enjoyed one of their best seasons in a long time last year, where they were an inspired force towards the tail end of 2021 in the Malaysia Cup competition. They topped their group over Kedah DA, and saw out Sabah in the quarter-finals, winning both home and away, but we stopped them in their tracks during the semi-finals with only a skied penalty attempt the difference between the two sides in the City Boys’ 5-3 penalty shoot-out win at the Hang Jebat Stadium, after it ended 2-2 on aggregate, depriving them of a chance at making history. They have gone from strength to strength since gaining promotion from the FAM League (then third division) in 2015 and immediately got their ticket to the top level after winning the Premier League a year later. This is their fifth straight season in the Super League, and the players they have brought in this season, show a clear intent and ambition to build upon last year’s Malaysia Cup run, and break from that mid-table/lower mid-table finishes that they constantly find themselves in. They dismissed the services of Zainal Abidin Hassan who was with them since November 2018, replacing him with Bosnian Risto Vidakovic who has several years’ experience in Southeast Asia. The Hang Tuah (previously nicknamed Mousedeer) also lured Nigerian-Bahraini Ifedayo Olusegun, the top scorer of the league the past two years, to return to Melaka from Selangor, while retaining forwards Haitian Sony Norde and Brazilian Adriano Aparecido Narcizo to form a strikeforce which most teams would envy. Young Filipino defender Justin Baas and Ghanaian strike Emmanuel Oti to complete their roster of foreign players. On the local department, veteran striker Norshahrul Idlan Talaha arrives from Sarawak United and former Kelantan United winger Syahrul Azwari Ibrahim joins to pack more punch upfront, with midfielder Fadhli Shas and defender Syazwan Andik Ishak, both coming in on loan from Johor DT. Despite the big stars, Melaka United too find itself in a stuttering start to the season. Covid-19 affected their pre-season, and they got their Super League campaign off to a 1-0 away loss to PJ City and drew 1-1 at Penang a few days later. A 4-0 home win in the FA Cup first round against M3 (third division) side Persada Integriti Bersatu was thought to be the tonic they needed, but clearly, things are not going for them as well, losing at home to Sabah, through a solitary goal last Tuesday. Scoring goals seem to be a problem for them, and apart from the M3 opposition, they only found the net once in 3 Super League matches, and that too was an own goal by Penang. Recent reports in the media have indicated that their organisation is blighted by salary issues since January this year, and the head coach has come out in the open to lament how he has never experienced such a situation like this in his entire footballing career and suggested that the problem affected the team in the reverse against Sabah. Even their state’s Chief Minister got into the act, by ‘ordering’ the management of the team to solve the matter immediately. With regards to their team for the game on Saturday, foreigners Ifedayo, Adriano and Emmanuel, will be missing through injuries sustained.
If goalscoring is the issue for Melaka United, the opposite is true for the City Boys. We are conceding goals like a broken faucet that continuously leaks. It was another 3 goals against the champions Johor DT on Wednesday, but like in the Selangor game, we were handicapped, playing with 10 men for the last 40 minutes of the fixture, giving away a soft penalty that led to Johor DT’s second of the evening, and suffering from yet another individual mistake for Johor DT’s opener. In between all that, we had three really good chances that could have changed the nature of the match, despite setting up our stall in the first half. The best moments in that game for us, lay in the opening exchanges of the second period, before Kenny’s red card, and we could take heart from that. It was a far better performance against Johor DT compared to the Charity Cup season opener in Johor, despite the result being the same. We missed the presence of Zhafri who always makes a difference to the team, and with Koubemba not being around, it forced head coach Bojan to push captain Paulo Josue upfront alone in hold the ball role, thus missing the latter’s creative spark in midfield. Even so, it was the Brazilian who created or was involved in our best scoring chances during that game. With Kenny missing through suspension, Bojan will once again be forced to tinker with the line-up and find that formula to plug the goals. Upfront, we should see Zhafri return and make an impact, and Romel, who was a welcome sight on Wednesday for his first start of the season despite still looking sluggish, should see more or less the same game time as he did against Johor DT.
When Melaka United grace our stadium this Saturday, it will be the 28th time both teams will be meeting each other since the beginning of the Super League & Premier League divisions in 2004. The overall record slightly favours the City Boys with 11 wins over the Hang Tuah’s nine, with 7 matches ending in draws. It is never easy playing the southerners in recent times, and since 2016, we have only won once in 12 fixtures, losing six and drawing five (victories in penalty shoot-outs during knock-out stage matches do not count). That 4-2 away win in the Super League in 2018, saw Zhafri being sent off. Last season, we met them 4 times (twice in the league and twice in the Malaysia Cup semi-finals), and three of those ended in a 1-1 draw, while the first meeting in 2021 saw us fall to Alex dos Santos Goncalves’ double penalties before Zhafri reduce the deficit with a minute to go. Our last home success against Melaka goes as far back as 2014, a 3-1 win in the FAM League when both teams were struggling at the third level of Malaysian at UPM (University Putra Malaysia) in Serdang. Due to differing fortunes where the City Boys and the Hang Tuah did not meet between 2010 to 2013, the last home conquest of the Green and Whites occurred in the Premier League (second level) in 2009, where we bagged the points with a narrow 1-0 win.
Izreen who is recovering from an anterior cruciate ligament injury in his knee, remains the only player in the treatment room, while Koubemba after missing the loss to Johor DT, remains a doubt with a hamstring issue.
Tickets for the Super League match against Melaka United are available at the following link,
For Season Ticket Holders (B2 City Boys), enjoy 20% off regular ticket prices for your friends and/or family. (Limited to a maximum of 4 tickets per transaction. (Contact Shamim for details)