KUCHING: Despite Kuching City’s emphatic 4-1 win over Terengganu FC, head coach Aidil Shahrin Sahak says the job is not done, urging his players to stay focused and keep playing exciting football for the fans.
“I want to give credit to my players first for the result. I’m not Jose Mourinho to come here and get a goal, but this is all the players’ effort. I think they worked very hard, and they followed our tactical plan,” he told a post-match press conference.
Aidil praised his players for executing the game plan effectively, particularly in neutralising Terengganu’s key attacking threats.
“We stopped Nurillo’s (Nurillo Tukhtasinov) passing channels and limited Gabi’s (Gabriel Silva Costa) runs between the lines. Defending always starts from the top, not only from the defenders or goalkeeper; it’s about how we close spaces as a unit,” he explained.
Kuching City took control early when Ronald Ngah struck in the 9th minute after a clever flick from Petrus Shitembi.
Ngah then doubled the lead three minutes later from the penalty spot after a handball by Diego Luiz Landis.
Danial Asri added a third in the 53rd minute from another Shitembi assist before Terengganu pulled one back through Yan Kevin Mabella’s penalty in the 68th minute.
However, Mabella’s night took a turn when he accidentally headed into his own net in the 82nd minute, sealing a dominant 4–1 victory for Kuching City FC at the Sultan Mizan Zainal Abidin Stadium in Terengganu.
Despite the commanding result, Aidil reminded his team to stay grounded.
“Whatever the result, it’s still one half. We still have to play the second half, and we still have to defend the second half,” he stressed.
“Because we play at home, we are not going to sit back and defend. We always want to give the fans exciting, flowing football and a performance they can enjoy.”
The victory puts Kuching City one step away from the Malaysia FA Cup semi-finals.
They will host Terengganu in the return leg of the quarterfinals on Tuesday, October 28.
