Kedah failed to hold on to their lead three times following a wild 4-4 draw away at PKNS. They notonly failed to make 2nd position their own but also failed to keep the pressure on Johor Darul Takzim.
With goals from Ken Ilso and a Syafiq Ahmad brace, Sandro Mendonca’s last-minute penalty was thought to spare Kedah’s blushes to for the three points, only for Matias Jadue to convert his own penalty with the last kick of the game for a brace of his own and the equalizer after goals from Patrick Wleh and Lucas Espindola.
It was a dream start for Kedah though after five minutes. Ilso hit the post but the ball fell to Syafiq Ahmad, who crossed the ball back in and somehow went past two PKNS defenders. Ilso made amends and poked the ball into the net.
But the lead only lasted eight minutes. Matias tees up Patrick Wleh with a through ball to the centre and the Liberian calmly rounded Mohd Ifwat and scored.
On the 17th minute, Kedah took back the lead when Syazwan Tajudin crossed the ball and with no one marking Syafiq, he heads the ball in with ease
It got better for Kedah and Syafiq six minutes later. The forward timed his run well to head Sandro’s corner near post and past a bewildered Zamir Selamat.
Kedah though restarted the match by defending deep into their half in some occasions. They were paid for it on the 56th minute when a pass found Matias in the centre and he shoot past Ifwat to get one back.
Unfortunately, Kedah has more injury woes as Ifwat hurt himself clearing the ball before Matias could get it and he was replaced by Farhan Abu Bakar on the 67th minute.
PKNS found their groove back and their attacks made Kedah worried. Right before injury time, they got their reward. Kedah failed to clear and the loose ball went to Espindola’s path. It was then that Farhan had a calamitous moment when he let the Argentinian’s shot go under his body and into the net.
Just when it couldn’t get more dramatic, it did after a minute of injury time. A free-kick from substitute Baddrol Bakhtiar was thought to be blocked by a hand from a PKNS player and the referee gave the visitors a penalty.
Sandro stepped up and sent Zamir the wrong way for what was thought to be a crucial victory for Kedah.
But PKNS didn’t let up and went full attacking mode that caused Kedah to panic. As a result of the panic, someone accidentally hit the self-destruct button when one of their players unnecessarily fouled Patrick in the box following a corner with the striker facing away from goal.
Matias stepped up and converted his spot-kick well as it proved to be the final action of the match. This caused Kedah to let slip the lead for the third time and dropped two points in a crazy and entertaining match.
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