Perak continued their excellent start to their Malaysia Super League campaign by securing a comfortable victory over ATM in Paroi.
Datuk M. Karathu opted for a well-balanced starting line-up, with Namkung Woong playing just behind Chad Souza, while Nasir and Sukri sit in the middle of the park. Last week’s hero Nurridzuan Abu Hassan continued his role on the flanks, while Thiago was ordered to marshall their defence.
As for ATM, Norshahrul missed out through an injury, meaning that Jerry Palacios partnered Abdulafees Abdulsalam upfront, with Mario Karlovic and Hairuddin Omar behind them.
But despite playing at home, ATM struggled to stamp their authority early on in the game, with Perak dominating the tempo. Nasir and Sukri exhibited excellent touches in the middle of the park and they manufactured several excellent balls for Nurridzuan; who was causing plenty of troubles with his pace.
Their terrific efforts eventually paid dividends as Nasir Basharuddin found the back of the net with a brilliant strike to put Perak ahead on the 21st minute mark. But their best efforts to further threaten ATM’s goal, Chad Souza looked extremely shoddy for them, which resulted in the Brazilian being subbed off at half time.
ATM tried to push for a comeback after the break, Abdulafees scuffing a decent attempt on goal, but Perak delivered a timely blow on the 53rd minute by doubling their lead. Nurridzuan Abu Hassan, who was extremely impressive against Sime Darby last week, stepped up to execute an excellent free kick past Syed Adney, making it 2-0 for the away side.
B. Sathianathan’s men appeared distraught after that goal, and started losing focus on the pitch. They gave away possession way too easily, while Jerry Palacios continued to struggle at the forefront of their attack.
And the Honduran forward summed up ATM’s horrendous night by missing a sitter towards the end of the game as Perak held on for a comfortable 2-0 win that effectively sent them to the top of the table.
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