Kota Kinabalu: Sabah FC’s winless run in the Super League extended to seven matches following their 1-2 defeat against Immigration FC at Likas Stadium, Saturday night.
This disappointing performance means Sabah FC’s last win dates back to December 23 – a 3-1 away win over Terengganu FC.
Buoyed by their recent MFL Challenge Cup semi-final victory over Perak FA, Sabah FC had started brightly, Darren Lok, who was unmarked in the box put them ahead in the 29th minute with an assist from S. Kumaarhan.
Darren almost added to his tally with an acrobatic bicycle kick attempt in the 57th minute, but his effort was thwarted by Immigration FC’s goalkeeper Muhd Farhan Abdul Majid.
The visitors were given a lifeline in the 75th minute. Their opportunity arose after Chris Ondong Mba, attempting to clear the ball inside the box, inadvertently handled it.
Wilmar Jordan Gil stepped up to take the spot kick calmly, sending the ball past Damien Lim for the equaliser.
Advertisement
Then against the run of play, a quick counterattack saw Fayadh Zulkifli score the second goal for Immigration FC in the 84th minute.
Sabah FC intensified their attacking efforts in search of an equaliser in the final stages of the match.
Their breakthrough appeared to come in the 88th minute through a free kick from Dean Pelekanos, which was initially judged to have crossed the goal line after being dropped by goalkeeper Farhan.
Unfortunately for Sabah FC, a subsequent VAR check found that Azhad Harraz Arman was in an offside position, leading to the goal’s annulment.
Rhinos head coach Juan Torres Garrido expressed his disappointment with the result and noted that some pivotal decisions on the pitch were the contributing factors.
“We were disappointed of course, as we expected a good result. We can learn from the experience and improve the team and fix the shortcomings, but we cannot control some of the factors like the decisions made during the match, which made it very difficult for us,” he said.
Meanwhile, the result saw Immigration FC jumping to seventh place in the league with 21 points from 19 matches, while Sabah remained in 10th place with 15 points.
