KUALA LUMPUR: Kuala Lumpur (KL) City FC had to settle for a point after going down to 10 men during their 1-1 draw against Kuching City FC in the Super League match at the Kuala Lumpur Football Stadium in Cheras here, last night.
The Video Assistant Referee (VAR) was in the spotlight during two crucial incidents, one involving Kuching City’s equaliser in the 14th minute and a red card for KL City’s new defender Adrijan Rudovic in the 39th minute.
KL City coach Miroslav Kuljanac also received an early blow after senior defender Mohamad Kamal Azizi Mohamad Zabri had to be stretchered off and replaced by J. Partiban in the fourth minute due to an injury sustained in a clash with an opponent.
However, the City boys squad managed to open the scoring through captain Paulo Josue who scored a beautiful goal with a shot from outside the penalty box in the 12th minute, before Kuching City’s equaliser through Yuki Tanigawa’s finish two minutes later was cancelled.
Referee S. Logeswaran made the decision after doing a review on the field side monitor.
The decision did not dampen the spirit of the visiting team coached by Aidil Sharin Sahak, as Pedro Henrique’s goal in the 19th minute got them back to level terms.
VAR was once again involved as Logeswaran overturned the yellow card given to Rudovic and issued a red card to him following a dangerous challenge on Kuching City’s forward Jordan Minta in the 34th minute after a review on the monitor.
Meanwhile, Sabah FC were held to a goalless draw against Penang FC at the Likas Stadium, Kota Kinabalu.
Sabah under the guidance of Datuk Ong Kim Swee appeared dangerous with quick attacks on both sides through Saddil Ramdani and Daniel Ting, but a series of beautiful crosses failed to produce any tangible result.
The home side’s best chance came in stoppage time when Saddil’s corner deflected to Gabriel Peres, but his header was brilliantly saved by goalkeeper Sikh Izhan Nazrel Sikh Azman.
The match was originally scheduled to be played with VAR for the first time at the Likas Stadium but could not be carried out due to technical issues.
Earlier, before the match started, Sabah’s captain, Park Tae-su, received the trophy award for the best starting eleven of the Malaysian League last season presented by Mohd Joehari Mohd Ayub, a member of the Malaysian Football League (MFL) board of directors.
Following are the standings of teams after last day’s matches:
| P | W | D | L | F | A | Pts | |
| Johor DT | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 3 |
| Terengganu | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 3 |
| Sri Pahang | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 |
| KL City | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Kuching City | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Penang | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Sabah | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Kedah Darul Aman | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Negeri Sembilan | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Kelantan Darul Naim | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| PDRM | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Perak | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 0 |
| Selangor | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
- Kedah Darul Aman docked three points over salary arrears issue.
– BERNAMA
