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| the-afc.com |
East Coast derby lived up to expectations as Pahang beat Kelantan 5-3 in a thrilling encounter at Darul Makmur Stadium. It was an important win for The Elephant Army as they bounced back from a rare defeat against LionsXII previously that resulted a slip up to the second placed in the table. Strong performance proved how they have yet to give up in the race to win the Super League title with only three games remaining.
Pahang were without Azidan Sarudin and Azam Azih while Kelantan travelling without Gilmar, Nik Shahrul Azim, Fakri, Zairul Fitree due to injury and Amiridzwan Taj who is suspended.
With not much focused on the defence, Pahang managed to score with five different goalscorer while Norfarhan Mohamad scored a hattrick for Kelantan but unable to prevent his side from the defeat.
Pahang took an early lead in the 7th minute when R. Gopinathan crossed the ball from the left-hand side of midfield towards Matias Conti who only hit the right woodwork before R. Surendran pounced on the rebound to make it 1-0.
Pahang doubled the lead in less than a minute after a cross from R. Surendran from the right midfield met the unmarked Dickson Nwakaeme who headed the ball easily past Khairul Fahmi.
Kelantan narrow down the gap to one when Razman Roslan who robbed the ball from Austin Amutu but failed to clear it properly punished by the marauding winger Farhan Mohamad who hit the ball off Razman's leg and it lobbed past Khairul Azhan.
It all looked like Kelantan have a chance for equaliser until Gopinathan whipped a corner which met Matias Conti who scored with an accurate header just before the half time to make it 3-1.
As the second half resumed, Kelantan nightmare continues as Zesh Rehman added another goal for the home side with a flying header, assisted by R. Surendran in the 55th minute.
Kelantan clawed back in the game in the 70th minute through Norfarhan Mohamad who added his second goal of the game through a cross from outside of the box and headed the ball past Khairul Azhan who misjudged the ball to make it 4-2.
To make matter more difficult for Kelantan, Khairul Izuan was sent off just few minutes later for a deliberate tackle towards the opponent.
The comeback were almost on the card for Kelantan when Azamuddin Akil tackled Austin Amutu inside the penalty box. Norfarhan completed a hat-trick after he converted the spot-kick with ease to make it three for his side.
With so little time remaining, Dickson found himself dribbling the ball towards Kelantan defence and crossed it to the centre which met the unmarked Azamuddin who scored the fifth goal for Pahang, burying all the hopes that Kelantan have for an equaliser.
Pahang currently with 42 points, just one point behind JDT. Kelantan remain in ninth placed, with 22 points.
Next game on Aug 15th, 2015: Perak v Pahang, Kelantan v JDT
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