Lions XII fought hard to win at Jalan Besar Stadium tonight when they edged Sarawak by a solitary goal.
The game was largely dominated by the Lions, with Sarawak playing second fiddle in most of the occasions.
Sarawak’s midfield crumbled as the game progressed, and the inclusion of attacking midfielder Shahril Ishak only added spice to the Lions attacking force.
With over 60% possession held by the Lions in the first half, the game was indeed a very stale effort by both the home and visiting side with neither able to mount any dangerous attacks.
The game picked up pace in the second half with Sarawak pushing forward to find the winning goal. Nonetheless, their efforts were stunted by tight marking and calm defending by the Lions whom were able to mount dangerous counter attacks in the second half.
Lions finally turned their possession superiority into a goal when unmarked Baihakki Khaizan won a tackle in the middle of the field before he calmly slot a through ball to Fazrul, who made no mistake to unleashed a low drive to beat Sani Anuar.
Sarawak tried to come back from the goal, but the substitution of Muamer Salibasic, Bobby Gonzales and Zamri Morshidi failed to give much effect to the team, and the result.
Ashri Chuchu made his first appearance in for the season, but he too failed to help the Crocs to their cause.
Lions played it safe until the dying minutes, and were clearly happy with the win over the east Malaysian side as they are now one point away from securing a slot in the quarter finals.
The result meant that all four teams now still stand a chance to qualify to the next round with Sarawak needing a draw against Perak to move through.
On another note, about 100 Sarawak fans at Jalan Besar made themselves well heard as their songs and chants overshadowed the the home side fans cheers and chants.
Photo by Lions XII page