By: GL Oh
KOTA KINABALU: Sabah Tambadaus suffered their second defeat in three days after losing 2-1 to Selangor United in the Premier League match at Stadium MOS, Selayang, Saturday. It was also the second time they failed to get any point in five games following their season opener 2-1 loss to JDT II. Following the FA Cup loss by Kelantan United on Wednesday, Jelius decided to start the match with Alto Linus ahead of Maxsius Musa while Mafry Malang in placed of the injured Sabri Sahar.
It was a positive start for Sabah as they were the better side in the early exchanges. Mafry had a lone-range shot which was turned away by keeper Nuraizat Aziz who frustrated Sabah throughout the afternoon with a number of excellent saves. Sabah’s attacking play was good and created a lot of chances but their defence was a suspect with both goals conceded due to defensive errors.
Their failure to stop Norhafizzuan Jailani from making a first time cross into the box saw Sergio Fabian Ezequiel Agüero escaped his marker Park Taesue to head in the opener in the 36th minute. The second came in the 71st minute when Sergio delivered a cross into the penalty area , and with the Sabah players’ failure to clear the ball, the onrushing Fauzan Dzulkifli made no mistake to score with a stiff grounder.
Despite the setback, Sabah continued to mount attacking moves and their efforts finally paid off after a placing header from Alto Linus reduced the deficit with two minutes to go. It was all Sabah after the goal but despite the added five minutes of injury time, they were unable to unlock the stubborn Selangor defence and the score remained 2-1 until the final whistle. With the defeat, Sabah remained in second place, one point behind JDT II with 14 points from four wins, two draw and two losses. Their next match is against UiTM at Likas Stadium on Saturday (April 13).
