Ong praises disciplined Rhinos
Published on: Saturday, November 11, 2023
By: GL Oh
Daniel jumps high to celebrate after scoring the opening goal.
Kota Kinabalu: Datuk Ong Kim Swee praised his players’ impressive discipline in Sabah FC’s 4-1 win over Hai Phong FC in the return leg of the AFC Cup tie at Likas Stadium on Thursday night.
The visiting Vietnamese side, who won the first leg 3-2, started well and almost snatched the lead in the second minute when Nguyen Huu Son drove his shot wide with only Khairul Fahmi Che Mat to beat in goal.
ADVERTISEMENT
Despite the early pressure, it was Sabah FC who found the net first in the 20th minute through Daniel Ting after receiving a pass from Stuart Wilkin.
However, he almost tripped when Hai Phong FC’s goalkeeper tried to catch the ball under his feet, but was able to steady himself before guiding the ball home.
The second goal came from Darren Lok with a glancing header from Saddil Ramdani’s pin-point delivery in the 34th minute.
Sabah FC were on the receiving end at the start of second half and unlike the previous games, the defence was able to stand firm.
ADVERTISEMENT
They were able to extend the lead through Gabriel Peres with another header in the 69th minute and Saddil was again the provider.
Despite conceding a late goal in the 84th minute to a header from Yuri Souza Almeida, there was never any danger of Sabah FC losing the match.
ADVERTISEMENT
Substitute Jafry Chew then restored the three-goal advantage in injury time with a simple tap-in after Ramon Machado outran his marker to deliver a perfect ball across the goal.
Ong said the players displayed their discipline on the pitch and were able to dictate the match as a result.
“The players showed their discipline and they carried out their duties very well. Once we had taken the lead we were able to maintain the momentum.
“We knew in the second half, Hai Phong would come out to attack and the introduction of Gary (Steven Robbat) to replace Darren (Lok) gave us more balance in the middle.
“We needed to adapt the changes as quickly as possible because to concede a goal after leading 2-0 or 2-1 will put pressure on us.
“We had to avoid that and after scoring the third goal I believed that made it difficult for them to make a comeback,” he said.
With the win, Sabah FC are now topping the table in Group H with nine points followed by Hai Phong FC and PSM Makasar, both with six points and Hougang United at the bottom with three.
However, Ong is still cautious and urged the players to stay focused in the remaining two matches against Hougang United away on November 30 and PSM Makasar at home on December 14.
“If you look at the table, we stand a very good chance (to progress) but we still have two more games to play and we cannot take it easy.”
Stay up-to-date by following Daily Express’s Telegram channel.
Daily Express Malaysia
