Safuwan Baharudin (LionsXII #21) finds Terengganu goalie Wan Muhd Azraie in the way as he attempts to guide the ball in to goal. Safuwan eventually scored the equalising goal. (Photo 1 © Tan Jon Han/Red Sports)
Jalan Besar Stadium, Saturday, January 19, 2013 — The Singapore LionsXII overcame a first-half deficit to beat Terengganu 2-1 in the Malaysian Super League (MSL) to bounce back from their 0-1 loss to Selangor PKNS in mid-week.
The LionsXII have now won three out of their first four matches and lie third on the table on goal difference. Pahang lead the table with a better goal difference with Selangor in second place. The top three teams have identical 3-0-1, win-draw-lose records.
Terengganu drew first blood by scoring in the 32nd minute through Jean-Emmanuel Effa Owona and the LionsXII had chances but poor finishing let them down.
Shahfiq Ghani came the closest with a curling free kick but the nearly 7,000 home fans saw Terengganu’s custodian Wan Muhd Azraie make a save.
Safuwan Baharudin finally found the equaliser for the home team in the 64th minute and 10 minutes later, Syafiq Zainal’s header, off a free kick, sealed the victory.
Terengganu’s coach, E Elavarasan, said: “The LionsXII were better and they had the extra push once they equalised.”
V Sundramoorthy, the LionsXII coach, were a different team in the second half.
“Two positive changes in the second half turned the game. In the second half we were more fluid, lots of penetration and passes,” he said.
Paying tribute to his players, Sundram singled out Gabriel Quak for forcing lots of free-kicks. Gabriel, playing in only his second match for the LionsXII, impressed with his play.
Sundram also praised the team as a whole for giving off their best,
He said: “It’s still early (in the) season. It’s about consistency and it will take some time before they mature. In the meantime, all will work harder to fight for their place.”
The LionsXII’s next match is away against the T-team, at the Stadium Ismail Nasiruddin Shah in Kuala Terengganu on Tuesday, January 22nd. The match starts at 4.45 pm and will be telecast live on Starhub Channel 201.
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