Kelantan City FC ready to defend and go to penalties in Kuching, says Wan Zaharulnizam

Kelantan City FC must defend more solidly in Kuching and be ready for a penalty shoot-out, winger Wan Zaharulnizam Zakaria said in remarks published by MFL.

The first leg of the Malaysia FA Cup quarter-final, at Sultan Muhammad IV Stadium in Kota Bharu on 20 September, finished 0-0. It leaves the tie level going into the return against Kuching City FC.

Wan Zaharulnizam said that holding off Aidil Sharin Sahak’s side in that first meeting had kept the tie open for his team. He rated the chances at 50-50 for both sides, pointing out that Kuching City FC had only just played Tampines Rovers and that his team had watched how they played. He also said that playing away would be harder, that the hosts have many quality players, especially among their imports, and that a more open game would probably see his side fall behind. So his side would defend as well as they could, and going all the way to penalties would be fine if it came to that.

Kuching City FC come into the tie from an ASEAN Club Championship group match on 7 October, a 2-2 draw with Tampines Rovers in which Gabriel Peres scored in the 87th minute and again at 90+3’. In the Malaysia Super League they are second, with 12 points from five matches, three behind the leaders.

The same MFL piece looked ahead to the other quarter-final second legs. Kuala Lumpur City host DPMM FC after a 3-3 first leg, and their coach, Datuk Dollah Salleh, said the three-week break had helped his players work on their weaknesses. Johor Darul Ta’zim play Penang FC at Sultan Ibrahim Stadium, and Star City FC visit Selangor FC in Petaling Jaya.

The second leg in Kuching kicks off at 7.45pm on 10 October (Saturday) at Taha Ariffin Stadium, with a semi-final place to play for.