An entertaining 90 minute of football with a touch of Malaysian Tropical weather, the monsoon rain and slippery pitch.
How we lined-up?
Shahril Sa’ari (GK) – Dzulazlan Ibrahim, Mazwandi Zekeria, Ronny Harun, Demerson Bruno Costa – Rodney Celvin Akwensivie (76’ Daglish Papin Test), Lee Jung-Ho, Tommy Mawat Bada (82’ Ramesh Lai Ban Huat), Nur Shamie Izsuan Amin (62’ Hafiz Abu Bakar) – Mark Hartmann, Mateo Roskam.
A conventional shaped 4-4-2, but looked more like a 4-3-3, with Hartmann dropping in midfield to support Jung-Ho & Rodney.
How the opponent lined-up?
Zamir Selamat (GK) (23’ Mohd Nor Haziq) – Gonzalo Soto, Amirizdwan Taj Tajuddin, Azreen Zulkafli, Azmi Muslim –K Gurusamy (68’ Khairul Ramadan Zauwawi), Nazrin Syamsul Bahri, Khyril Muhymeen Zambri, Lucas Sebastian Espindola – Safee Sali, Patrick Ronaldinho Wleh
A conventional 4-4-2
How we performed:
Pro: Short passes, fast movement, fast flanks, hardworking forwards.
Con: Short term focus, Considered as a poor midfield display, no variation in the game play.
What’s the score?
PKNS 2-3 Sarawak (54′ Lucas Sebastian Espindola, 90+3′ Khairul Ramadan Zauwawi; 17′ Mateo Roskam, 60′ Mark Hartmann 62′ Hafiz Abu Bakar)
How the goal scored?
Sarawak 1st goal: 17’ Sarawak counter attack from the right flank moving central looking for a free Mark Hartmann, who then shoots and hit the bar, rebounds and fell to a lurking Mateo Roskam and heads the ball into the back of PKNS goal, beating Zamir Selamat, who got injured in the process.
PKNS 1st goal: 55’ Espindola was unmarked, makes his shot outside the penalty box and hits one Demerson thigh and deflected for the equalizer. Shahril left stranded. Game even.
Sarawak 2nd goal: 60’ Another counter attack from the left flank, Mazwandi, Hartmann, Tommy working together to set-up Mark Hartmann, who curled the ball pass the replacement goalkeeper, Nor Haziq, leaving him helpless. What a goal!
Sarawak 3rd goal: 62’ A quick succession, Nur Shamie was replaced by Hafiz, he immediately gave impact and picked up a loose ball, a cross from the left and drove the ball into the back of the net.
PKNS 2nd goal: PKNS won a free-kick in the dying minutes, ball was headed by Gonzalo Soto to the far post meets a Khairul Ramadan flying header beating a helpless Shahril.
How the players fared?
Shahril – 7 – a decent game, made some important saves throughout the game. Unlucky to concede two goals. Overall, reliable.
Demerson – 6 – Solid. Intercepting, blocking most aerial balls today but unlucky to have deflected the path of Espindola shot into his own net.
Ronny – 7 – Influential at the back and from time to time reminding back four to focus. Winning some important interceptions today. Less long ball from him today, unlucky to concede those 2 goals.
Dzulazlan – 6 – A mixed performance by him today. Kept Khyril at bay, but showed signs of fatigue towards the end, when he have to cope with Khairul Ramadan.
Mazwandi – 5 – Not at his best today. Have to deal with Espindola and Azreen in the first half and Khyril in the second half on that left flank. Made a couple of mistakes earlier which might cause trouble to the team. Need to keep focus on his game and improve his reaction.
Rodney Celvin – 5 –A bit static and not really supporting the back two, where both PKNS goals starts from the center and unmarked. Winning the high ball but lacking the eye for passes. Need to improve his work rate if he is to play midfield.
Lee Jong-Ho – 6 – More an attacking player than defensive. Good eye for pass, but seldom understood by his teammates. Doing a lot of cover in the midfield area to contain the likes of Nazrin, Guru & Espindola.
Nur Shamie – 6 – Not sure if this is the directive from the coaching staff, but he is straying too wide on the right and his crosses are predictable. Should run more inside and use his pace to beat the center back instead of beating the full back. A lot of potential still not fully explored.
Tommy Mawat – 6 – Made it a hard time for Azreen to mark him on the left, but at times making a simple pass complicated is something he needs to improve moving forward. A tendency to showboat. Nearly scored a goal but only to slide the ball across the goal.
Mark Hartmann – 7.5 – Energetic player on the pitch. Seldom find this trait in the local players. He was more an attacking midfield than a second striker, running from deep, moving to both flanks supporting the wingers. Some passes today were a bit below par though, but his eye for goal is just brilliant. Should have scored more if the other shots were on target.
Mateo Roskam – 7 – Another hardworking forward. Making those important runs, making sure he is positional relevant and took that chances well from the rebound to beat Zamir. At times, undecided with his option during break. Could have scored more today.
Subs:
Hafiz Abu Bakar – 7 – Brought in to replace Nur Shamie. Made an immediate impact by scoring that winning goal. His pace is electric. Brilliant change by the gaffer.
Ramesh Lai – 6 – Brought in to replace Tommy Mawat. Adding up defensive players to contain the relentless attack in the final 10 minutes. Looks rusty and lacking the match fitness.
Dalglish Papin Test – 6 – Brought in to replace Rodney. At first, we thought this was another winger added to the team, surprised that he is playing more in the middle. Made some important interceptions and tackles. Big potential to play in that holding role. Need to beef up a bit.
To be honest, the team wasn’t really playing the best football yet, but it was effective and took the chance they had. PKNS on the other half, was just poor. Safee missed a sitter, Patrick as usual not really working hard for the team, Khyril & Gurusamy was just not fit. Only Espindola was the only one working hard for the team. Sarawak was indeed lucky today. Credit to the team taking those chances. A well-deserved win.
