Kuala Lumpur City staged a late fightback but we left it too little too late to save a point at the home of Kedah Darul Aman in Alor Setar, narrowly losing 3-2, a similar result encountered last season.
Due to the suspension of Gallifuoco who received a dismissal (double yellow leading to a red card) in the 3-3 Super League opener draw against Selangor, Coach Bojan was forced to reshuffle his defence in front of Mendoza in goal, introducing Muhammad for his season debut, in the central position together with Irfan while Declan returned to the starting line-up assuming the left-back position as he did during the Charity Cup match against Johor D.T. Kamal Azizi retained his spot at right-back for the third match in a row. There were no changes in both midfield and attacking departments, with skipper Paulo Josue, Ryan, and Akram forming the engine room spearheaded by the attacking trio of Koubemba, M. Hadin dan Zhafri.
Kedah DA buoyed by their season-opening 1-0 win at Sarawak United, were on the front foot from the whistle go, and it was definitely fingernail biting time for the City Boys who survived wave after wave of the Canaries attacks during the early periods in the first half.
Kevin was called into action as soon as the 7th minute, easily saving a 35-metre long drive from Al Hafiz. Three minutes later, former Terengganu FC man Dechi Marcel, skied his shot from outside the box after a lay-off from Syafiq Ahmad. The Green & Yellow were at it again at the quarter-hour mark, South Korean and ex-Melaka United defender Jang Suk Won, letting fly from distance, met expertly with a tip over the crossbar by Kevin. Kedah DA came closest to opening the scoring in the 22nd minute, and it took some heroics from Kevin to keep the scoreline level. After some nifty footwork by Azmeer Aris who beat two of our players Zhafri and Kamal Azizi down the left, smashing a near-post shot that was parried by Kevin into the path of Syafiq Ahmad who could only see his weak effort from 6-yards saved brilliantly by the Filipino custodian.
Against the run of play though, we took the lead from our first look at goal. Running down the left, Paulo sent a looping cross into the danger area, Koubemba rising highest in the box, headed the ball to Zhafri who chested for Declan, and the twin brother of Ryan, stabbed a return pass to allow Zhafri the space, making no mistake with a half volley, his second goal in the league, leaving no chance for Kedah DA’s goalkeeper Shahril Saa’ri.
However, our goal failed to dampen the spirits of the home team. Barely three minutes later it was 1-1 following a wonderfully worked passing move from left to right, ended with Al Hafiz at the top of the penalty box, delivering a pin-point cross for Syafiq Ahmad, who ran from behind to squeeze between our defenders, Muhammad and Kamal Azizi and direct his header past Kevin.
Ryan then came close to restoring our lead in the 37th minute. Picking up a loose ball in the middle of Kedah DA’s half, he relayed it to his brother, Declan, charging down the left. A simple tap by the latter allowed Ryan to cut inside and hit a screamer that came off the top right corner of the crossbar. Had that gone in, it would certainly have been a contender for the goal of the season.
Both teams trooped off the pitch at halftime, level 1-1.
The second chapter of the match took a little to get going, but when it finally did, once again it was our team that came closest to scoring. Right at the hour mark, Koubemba squandered a golden chance to make it 2-1. The lanky Congolese releasing Zhafri into space on the right, met his cut-back into the penalty box with a near-post effort that was saved one-handed by Kedah DA’s No.1.
Five minutes later, Kedah DA responded with Syafiq Ahmad once again causing trouble with his aerial ability, forcing Kevin to make another save over the crossbar, after meeting a near-post corner from the left by their captain Syazwan Zainon.
In the 67th minute, our hearts were shattered. A long ball from the halfway line from Al Hafiz sprung our offside trap, and substitute Fayadh Zulkifli, as he did last year, fired past the onrushing Kevin to put Kedah DA in front for the first time in the match. We barely gathered our breaths from that disappointment and Kedah DA was 3-1 up two minutes later. Fayadh Zulkifli carried the ball up from the middle of his half, played Syafiq Ahmad sprinting down the left flank, completely unchallenged, and given all the time in the world to pick his spot to deliver an outstep pass to the unmarked German-Thai Dennis Buschening at the edge of the 6-yard box, taking two touches before hammering past the hapless Kevin, who did not deserve to concede 3 goals in this match.
Our squad from the capital refused to surrender, and with two minutes from regulation time, Koubemba opened his Malaysian League account, reducing the deficit with a header that was mishandled by the goalkeeper, following a cross on the right from Kamal Azizi. It was too little too late though as there was not enough time for the all-important equaliser to save a point. Had we taken the chances presented throughout the game, it would have been a different outcome altogether.
Kuala Lumpur City vs Kedah DA : 1 Mendoza (GK), 4 Kamal Azizi, 12 Declan (79′ 66 Nabil), 17 Irfan, 33 Muhammad (72′ 21 Kenny), 6 Ryan, 8 Zhafri (72′ 16 J.Partiban), 14 Akram, 28 Paulo Josue (C), 11 Koubemba, 27 M. Hadin (79′ 30 Fakrul)
Subs Not Used: 10 Safee, 22 Nik Umar, 25 Anwar, 44 Azri.G (GK)
Referees : Hamdan bin Awang, Assistants : Muhammad Shafiq bin Ahmad Said, Fazrul Izwan bin Mohd Zin; Fourth Official : Mohd Hasrul bin A. Rahman
Attendance : 2,702
He told The Voice of City Boys:
“I feel very grateful and honoured to have been picked as the MOTM by the fans and the Club 
Terima Kasih banyak! I am sad though that it wasn’t enough to get the 3 points.
I always try to do my absolute best! And I hope we’ll collect more points in the coming games 
Thank you for always supporting us!”
To watch the highlights of this match, please click https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OOUpRaNsr3c
To watch the complete match, please click https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KYQxNDP9NTs
NEXT UP FOR THE CITY BOYS, IS THE VISIT OF LANGKAWI FC (FORMERLY KNOWN AS GLORY UNITED) IN THE FIRST ROUND OF THE FA CUP, THIS SUNDAY, 13/3/2022 AT 9 PM AT THE KUALA LUMPUR FOOTBALL STADIUM IN BANDAR TUN RAZAK, CHERAS. Click here https://www.tickethotline.com.my/events/3/PIALA%20FA to buy tickets for this match.
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)
Prepared by The Voice of The City Boys
Statistics by Devinder Singh