Perak fans, you can finally sleep in peace.
Karl Heinz-Weigang has done it again – he has helped Perak FA avoid relegation for the second time in three years, as they sealed a 1-0 win over Selangor to officially ensure their survival in the Super League.
Prior to the match, Perak were 7th on the table with 24 points and there were five other teams below them, desperately battling for survival. It’s safe to say that Perak weren’t favourites to go down, but considering it was still mathematically possible, Weigang was never going to leave it to lady luck.
He fielded a strong starting eleven with Kenny Palraj continuing his role as their midfield anchor, while Elias Fernandes and Fazrul Hazli were tasked with leading their offensive charge. And due to injury, Weigang was only able to field four players on the bench – Syazani Mat Puat, Fikri Sudin, Sukri Hamid, Irfan Ghani.
But after a couple of missed opportunities for Selangor, Perak’s first real chance arrived on the 18th minute mark, as Nasir Basharuddin’s free-kick was expertly tipped away by Norazlan Razali.
Four minutes later, it was Oybek’s turn to try his luck with a free-kick, and even his attempt was dealt with comfortably by Norazlan. 13 minutes later, the Selangor shot-stopper was called into action yet again, saving Shahrul Saad’s header from an excellent corner kick.
While Selangor were happy to see the score remain 0-0 at half-time, considering the flurry of chances that Perak created, their joy was rather short-lived as Ugo Ukah scored an own-goal four minutes into the second half, allowing Perak to seal a 1-0 lead. Elias could have made it 2-0 a few minutes later, but his shot was parried away by Norazlan, who was arguably Selangor’s best performer.
Selangor attempted to revive their fortunes by throwing Gopinathan into the game, but even he failed to provide the spark they desperately needed upfront. Things got from bad to worse for the Red Giants as Ugo Ukah was sent off on the 82nd minute, for a foul on Fazrul Hazli – effectively killing their hopes of mustering a comeback.
When the final whistle was blown, you could almost sense the sigh of relief amongst the Perak supporters as they officially extended their record of being the only Malaysian team to have never been relegated from the Super League, for one more year.
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