KOTA KINABALU, July 25 (Bernama) -- Sabah FC climbed to second rung in the Super League from fifth position after defeating Negeri Sembilan FC 2-0 at home at Likas Stadium here tonight.
In the match attended by 3,154 spectators, Sabah opened scoring in the 14th minute through Daniel Ting who finished off a header from Telmo Castanheira.
The 25th minute saw Azrin Afiq bring down Farhan Roslan in the penalty box, but a Video Assistant Referee (VAR) review by referee Mohamad Kamil Zakaria Ismail decided no penalty kick for Sabah.
Negeri Sembilan had to play with 10 players in the 64th minute after defender Norfiqrie Talib was shown the red card after making a hard tackle on Farhan Roslan.
Sabah managed to add another goal in the 81st minute through Jafri Firdaus Chew who calmly finished off a penalty kick awarded by the referee after Negeri’s Zainal Abidin Jamil brought down Castanheira in the penalty box.
Coach Ong Kim Swee’s men should have widened the scoreline but the Sabah players failed to find a deadly finish to the series of opportunities presented to them, in addition to another Sabah attempt being denied by Negeri goalkeeper Aqil Razak.
Tonight’s victory saw Sabah grabbing 10 points from five matches behind Super League leader Johor Darul Ta’zim (JDT) who are perched atop with 15 points from a streak of five victorious matches so far.
-- BERNAMA
