Paulo Rangel came to Terengganu’s rescue at the death, as he netted a 93rd minute penalty to secure a 1-1 draw against Perak in the first leg of their FA Cup quarter-final tie.
The Seladangs came into the match on a positive note, having destroyed Felda United in the Super League last week, and they certainly displayed plenty of confidence on the pitch. With the likes of G. Mugenthiran in the starting eleven, there was plenty of enthusiasm upfront as well.
15 minute into the game, Namkung Woong tried his luck with a terrific shot, but Sharbinee did more than enough to collect it comfortably. Less than 10 minutes later, Rangel had a fine chance to put the home side ahead, but his shot missed the target by a mile, much to the relieve of Datuk M. Karathu and his troops.
That being said, Perak eventually broke the deadline just before half time, as Zubir Azmi’s attempt to clear the ball failed miserably as it got deflected into the back of the net to put the Seladangs 1-0 ahead.
After the break, Bobby Gonzales was brought on for the ineffective Chad Souza, before Terengganu’s hopes of salvaging themselves took a wild turn. Ismail Faruqi was shown a straight red card, after being adjudged to have fouled Mugenthiran, who was eventually hauled off as well.
Four minutes after the hour’s mark, Bobby received a brilliant ball from Namkung, but his shot sky rocketed above the bar. At this point in time, the match started getting stretched as both sides pushed upfront in search of goals.
Perak remained composed at the back and just when you though they had done enough to claim the win, Terengganu were awarded a penalty, thrree minutes into injury time. Rangel was fouled by Mohd Idris inside the box and the Brazilian stepped up to effectively dispatch and seize a vital equalizer that keeps their hopes of progression alive
Other posts by FO Newsdesk
