A lot of things you missed during the calm Aidilfitri’s for the past two years, no thanks to the Movement Control Order (MCO) due to the Covid-19 pandemic, were back in style big time for the 2022 edition! Massive ‘balik kampung jams’, open houses, ‘duit Raya’, etc., but for Kuala Lumpur City, it was the feeling of victory. What we last tasted almost four weeks back in a 2-0 win at home against Sabah, returned to the fore with Bojan’s men registering our third success of the league campaign this season, doing just enough to see Penang off, 3-2, in a nervy end on Tuesday in Cheras and move to fifth in the Super League standings, though all the teams below us with the exception of Sarawak United, have either 1 or 2 or 3 games in hand over us.
Fresh from our second back to back defeat in the league this season, after losing to Negeri Sembilan in Paroi, then at home to S Pahang last weekend, we were keen to steady our ship and begin collecting points for Mission Aidilfitri, though there was no underestimating the task that lay ahead for us, despite entertaining the basement side; the lessons bitterly learnt in the recent reverse to the Elephants. Furthermore, the Panthers had the advantage of not playing for almost a fortnight whereas we had less than 72 hours of rest and preparation, and they were recharged with a new coach at helm.
For the tenth time in as many matches this season, there were changes. Declan, Hadin and Ryan made way for Kenny, who was making his first start since being sent-off against Johor DT in early April; Partiban and Zhafri, both coming back after being benched in the defeat vs S Pahang though the duo came on as second half substitutes. Mendoza started as usual, with Gallifuoco and Kenny together at centreback. Irfan was pushed to the left of defence, while Kamal Azizi was at his regular right. The back four was the same as used in the 3-3 home draw against Selangor. Zhafri and Akram partnered in the middle as they last did in the 1-2 away loss to Negeri Sembilan, with Partiban and Koubemba given duties as wide men. Upfront was Romel and skipper Paulo Josue.
Barely had the fans settled down to look for their seats in this earlier than usual kick-off at 8.15pm, Partiban had the first look at goal in the after 2 minutes, though his effort was a weak one. Picking up a forward pass from Kamal Azizi, he goes in, relaying it to Romel, then pushes wide to the right, receiving the ball back from Romel. A quick change in direction, sees him fancy a low effort just outside the box, easily gathered by former KL-lite Khatul Anuar.
Partiban again showed that he was in the mood to party, almost turning provider for a chance that had no takers. Taking a throw-in on the right, he finds Romel, the Colombian returning the pass to him, and unchallenged, our No.16 sends a bender into the box that goes past everyone, Paulo Josue arriving a little late to connect his header.
Within 10 minutes, we had our third attempt for goal, and again by Partiban. Kenny began the move within our half, finding Kamal Azizi whose one touch punt was diverted by the skipper into the path of the Ipoh born, who cuts from the right, and hits a grounder from outside the penalty box that was off the mark.
We should have gone ahead in the 12th minute if not for some heroics from Abdul Latiff. Romel, now roaming on the left side, is played through, and he pushes it to meet Paulo Josue’s overlap, then races into the box. The Brazilian sends in a low cross, Romel connects but Khatul was in his element, keeping the shot out. The loose ball strayed to the left, and Partiban send it across for Akram to connect this time, but Latiff cleared it off the line.
The Red & White were knocking at the door for the opener in all this early domination, and we had the golden chance to do so two minutes later, when Fairuz Zakaria felled Koubemba in the box for our first penalty this year. Akram spots the Congolese with a bit of space on the left, and delivers a long ball beyond for Koubemba to race, eclipsing the defender. He took a touch into the box before being unceremoniously brought down, but the referee had made up his mind despite the protest of the Penangites. Romel lined up for the spotkick, already thinking of his third goal in the league, but Khatul dived superbly to his right, to keep the match scoreless to wild cheers of the Panthers in the stands near his goal.
Unworried by the disappointment of the missed penalty, the City Boys went about business like usual. Zhafri came close in the 17th minute. Paulo Josue dispossessed Latiff on the right, and immediately sent in for Romel at the top of the penalty area with his back to goal, sticking his boot out to tee-up our No. 8 who takes a touch, but could not control his volley from bobbling into the ground, then to safety.
Another opportunity went astray a minute later. Paulo Josue with a freekick on the left from midway into the opponents half, delivered it long for Gallifuoco at the far post, but the Australian, completely unpicked, and could not control his header, going high above the target.
Penang had a big shout for a penalty ignored by the referee in the 20th minute from their first attack in the match. A quick freekick taken just inside our half, changed play from right to left, and a couple of passes later, Lebanese import Hilal Alhelwe, expertly found Rafiuddin Roddin catching both Kamal Azizi and Kenny out of position. The Penang captain’s cut back header to the edge of the box, connected with Endrick dos Santos’ run, and the latter’s attempt on goal from a narrowing angle near the byline was blocked by the desperate dive of Gallifuoco, with the men in yellow screaming handball.
Almost immediately at the other end, another important block came into the picture to deny Romel from making amends. Akram harasses Rafiuddin right at the top of Penang’s box, resulting in the ball going loose, into the path of Romel, who strides into the danger area though his goalbound strike was blocked by Latiff, just as he squeezed the trigger, much to Khatul’s relief.
Our domination of the proceedings began to wean from this point onwards as the Panthers grew more and more into the game, and there was a period of a lull of goalmouth action until the 31st minute, Penang’s best chance to go ahead. Partiban was dislodged of the ball in the final third of northern territory on the right, and Hilal got the counter-attack moving when his cross field ball saw Endrick in acres of space, with Irfan desperately backpedalling. The Brazilian takes a touch, then at near the ‘D’, unleashes a vicious shot that nearly caused the Sampai Mati Kuala Lumpur faithful to gasp for air. Thankfully for us, it was high by mere inches.
Penang again had a chance in the 35th minute, also from another counter-attack that began in their half, Saravanan Thirumurugan skied it from the left outside the box after being fed by Endrick.
With halftime on the brink and the possibility of showing nothing for our early domination in the early minutes of the opening period looming, deservedly we go ahead two minutes to the break. A moment of concerted pressure from the City Boys after winning the ball on the left off a Penang throw in, ended with a combination of short passes that steadily burrowed into the danger area, from Zhafri to Paulo Josue to Koubemba to Akram and finally Partiban who ended it with a low shot that bounced and danced over the uneven pitch, and to everyone’s surprise curved inside the left post for the opener.
Halftime we led 1-0.
We began the second part of this match, much like the first. It took us five minutes into the restart, to threaten once again. Zhafri transfers play to Partiban on the right flank within our half. The 29 year old then combines with Romel to a great effect, tearing down the Panther’s resistance, playing a one-two with each other, before the goalscorer sends in an inviting cross into the box, which Paulo Josue arrived moments too late.
From a corner on the left a minute later by our skipper, Kenny, unmarked at the far post, had his header on target, but Khatul saw it all the way.
Our city slickers did not have to wait too long to double their lead, as Romel made it 2-0 with the simplest of goals, courtesy of grit, determination, and hard running by Paulo Josue. Khairul Rokisham intended to Route 1 his pass from inside Penang’s half, but the 33 year old blocked it, and they both raced for the loose ball which rebounded deep into the away side’s area. Paulo came out tops, skipped past Endrick’s tackle, then squared the ball for his South American teammate to sidefoot home, leaving no chance for Khatul.
It was Koubemba’s turn to go close near the hour mark, when his unchallenged header from Paulo Josue’s cross from the left, failed to find the target. The islanders initially thought they had snuffed out the danger off a corner on the same side by our skipper, but we wasted that second bite at the cherry.
In the 70th minute, Paulo Josue picked up the ball at the halfway line, and went on a mazy run, dribbling past 4 men and with only Khatul to beat, a last ditch tackle from a Penang defender, pushed the ball away from a certain goal. It sure seemed like Bojan’s boys were having fun on the pitch, completely dominating this fixture.
Penang had a great chance to reduce the deficit a minute forward. Hilal with one of his long balls, this time launching it from within his half, spreading it from left to right, searching for Saravanan’s run down the channel. The speedster got the better of Gallifuoco and from near the byline, he sent the ball across the face of our goal to substitute Casagrande at the far post, only for Kamal Azizi to intervene in the nick of time for a corner. It was a warning of things to come.
Again we came close to scoring the third in the 77th minute. Beginning from the halfway line after winning the second ball, 7 passes were played involving Akram, substitute Ryan, Romel, Kamal Azizi and Zhafri, ending with an audacious inswinger from the right that Khatul had to scramble to safety. Zhafri though, would not leave the pitch without stamping one of his signature goals, and seconds later, his name was on the scoresheet with a goal that was just out of this world, something that was out of the Karate Kid movie perhaps?. Paulo Josue’s corner from the right was punched away, but lurking at the ‘D’, lay Zhafri, who unleashed a superb first time volley that dipped into the top corner.
With 10 minutes to go, our joy was cut short, when the referee penalised Gallifuoco for a challenge on Cassagrande in the box, while reacting to Hilal’s searching ball. It was a harmless challenge to win the header, but the Brazilian striker went down meekly, obviously looking for something, and for the second time today, the referee ointed to the spot. Unlike Romel’s saved attempt in the first half, Cassagrande’s countryman, Endrick made no mistake from the spotkick, the fifth penalty we have conceded this year.
Cassagrande’s presence upfront as the focal point of Penang’s attack, galvanised them into pumping the ball forward at every opportunity possible. Twice the Panthers went close causing jitters amongst the City Boys’ backline. Firstly a minute after they scored, Endrick nearly got on the end of a cross from the left looking for him in the box, but credit to Declan, in for Partiban, who put him off, and in the 84th minute, another hopeful ball into our box from the right, was easily met by the giant striker despite Kenny and Gallifuoco’s best efforts, his header though, going above the crossbar, to plenty of cheers from the home side.
With 3 minutes left on the clock, we switched off again, allowing Penang in with a shout. Akram fumbled while receiving a pass midway in our half, and this was fully taken advantage off by Endrick, whose defence splitting through ball into the box was not picked up by anyone in a red kit, except his teammate Hilal, smashing it low past Mendoza, while on the turn.
Our resolve to hang on for victory was put to the sword in the closing minutes, and we prayed that final whistle would come sooner than later. The 4 minutes indicated by the fourth official as injury time, was greeted with plenty of sighs around the home stands, but put every man behind the ball to confirm the 3 points despite the late scare from the opponents.
A much needed win, our third of the season and we stop the recent rut of losses. We were cruising in this encounter, and could have scored an avalanche of goals, but perhaps we just did not have the legs to go with the mind, taking into consideration Saturday’s absorbing contest with S Pahang. At the end of the day, what mattered the most is points on the board, and we did it today.
Next up, is the closing chapter of this Syawal trilogy, Mission Aidilfitri Part 3, in a week’s time, away to Sarawak United, another side at the lower reaches of the table. We have yet to score a point away from home this season, much less win from the travels to Kedah and Negeri Sembilan, a wretched run that goes back to August 2021, when we gained our first and only win on the road in the league season, while at S Pahang. Our stats during our top flight travels in 2021, showed 1 win, 5 draws and 5 losses, though in the run-up to Malaysia Cup triumph, we fared much better away, avoiding defeat in the five matches, winning twice at S Pahang and Selangor, and drawing thrice. It would be a great end for this mission if we could open our touring accounts with full points in Kuching, and seek some stability of performance as well as results heading into mid-season, but it has been a strange season with everyone sans Penang taking points off each other.
Kuala Lumpur City vs Penang : 1 Mendoza (GK), 4 Kamal Azizi, 9 Gallifuoco, 17 Irfan, 21 Kenny, 8 Zhafri (37 Haqimi 90+1’), 14 Akram, 16 Partiban (12 Declan 74’), 28 Paulo Josue (C) (10 Safee 90+1’), 7 Romel, 11 Koubemba (6 Ryan 74’)
Subs Not Used : 20 Azim Al Amin (GK), 22 Nik Umar, 25 Anwar, 27 Hadin, 30 Fakrul
Referees : Tuan Mohd Yaasin bin Tuan Mohd Hanafiah; Assistants : Mohd Yusri bin Muhamad, Mohd Salleh bin Yaacob; Fourth Official : Abdul Rahman bin Wahab
Attendance : 595
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OUR HERO OF THE MATCH : PAULO JOSUE
He told The Voice of City Boys :
“This is part of my job — to make runs and show the boys that I am here with them no matter what.”
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To watch the highlights of this match, please click https://youtu.be/y_OIXWteksI
To watch the complete match of KL City vs Penang on 10/5/2022 (Super League), please click https://youtu.be/dYJ2WMGrIGg