KUCHING: Kuching City FC’s 1-0 upset of Selangor FC was the product of tactical discipline and strong backing from the fans, said head coach Aidil Sharin Sahak, who praised his players for “executing the game plan”.
The victory at Sarawak State Stadium on Sunday (Sept 21) was sealed by Ramadhan Saifullah, who curled home a low free kick in the 68th minute to hand the Cats three valuable points.
Aidil was quick to credit his players for their discipline and resilience in dealing with the afternoon heat, which he admitted disrupted both sides in the first half.
“First of all, I want to thank all the players because tonight was a super performance with a good attitude. It was a well-deserved win.
“In the first half, we could see that because of the weather it wasn’t fluent football from both sides, but after we changed the plans a little and made substitutions — Jordan Mintah, Joao Pedro, and Filemon Anyie — we wanted to attack and to score, and the boys executed the game plan well.”
The win also underlined Kuching City’s defensive maturity, with the team keeping Selangor’s attacking threats at bay for 90 minutes.
“We didn’t concede, which shows superb defending from the top down to the goalkeeper. This is what we want — to improve and be more consistent throughout the season,” said Aidil in a post-match press conference.
This was the Red Giants’ second consecutive defeat to the Cats in Kuching and, more painfully, the three points allowed the hosts to leapfrog Selangor into fourth place in the Super League with seven points.
The result will no doubt raise concern among Selangor FC supporters and the coaching staff, coming just days after their 2-4 loss to Bangkok United in the AFC Champions League 2 (ACL2).
The hosts, still buoyed by their emphatic 7-1 win over DPMM Brunei FC in the Malaysia FA Cup, looked the sharper side early on and dominated much of the first half.
That momentum nearly came undone in the 39th minute when midfielder Danial Amier was shown a red card, but the decision was overturned following a Video Assistant Referee (VAR) review.
