KUALA LUMPUR, April 8 — Perak FC staged a strong fightback to defeat Super League minnows UiTM FC 3-2 at Perak Stadium in Ipoh last night.
Ghanaian striker Nana Poku shocked the hosts in the 20th minute through a penalty, which was awarded after he was brought down by Perak FC defender Muhammad Danish Haziq Saiful Hisham while making a solo run into the penalty box.
Nana Poku then found the net again after beating an offside trap to calmly tuck the ball into the left corner of the goal in the 40th minute.
Stung by the two goals, Perak stepped up the pace and were rewarded when midfielder Raianderson Da Costa Morais tapped in J. Partiban’s corner kick in injury time of the first half.
In the second half, Perak finally equalised when naturalised national player Guilherme De Paula converted a penalty in the 69th minute before Raianderson became the hero by scoring his second goal in the 77th minute to give Perak victory.
In another match, Petaling Jaya (PJ) City FC and Kuala Lumpur (KL) City FC played to a 2-2 draw at the Petaling Jaya City Stadium.
Although KL City FC fell behind from an own goal by Irfan Zakaria in the 50th minute, the visitors equalised two minutes later when team captain Paolo Josue scored off a pass by Romel Oswaldo Morales into the penalty box.
A shot from outside the box by KL City FC striker Muhammad Hadin Azman hit the net in the 50th minute but the team were a man down just a minute later after defender Nik Mohd Shahrul Azim received his second yellow card.
Hosts PJ City FC took full advantage of the situation and kept up the attack until their substitute R. Kogileswaran scored the equaliser from inside the penalty box.
After seven matches, PJ City FC remain fifth in the league with 10 points, followed by KL City FC in sixth spot (nine points), Perak FC in eighth (eight points) and UiTM FC at the bottom with a single point.
In the Premier League, Johor Darul Ta’zim (JDT) II edged PDRM FC 1-0 at Tan Sri Dato Hassan Yunos Stadium in Larkin while bottom team FAM-NSC Project Squad ended their six-match losing streak by drawing 2-2 against Kuching FC in UiTM Shah Alam Stadium.
The Selangor FC 2 versus Sarawak United FC match at the Selayang Municipal Stadium was postponed due to bad weather and will be played on a date to be set by the Malaysia Football League (MFL). — Bernama
