Depleted Rhinos leave it late to hold Penang FC
by Lester J. Bingkasan · Borneo Post OnlineKOTA KINABALU (April 6): Gabriel Peres converted a stoppage-time penalty to salvage a 1–1 draw against Penang FC in the first leg of the MFL Challenge Cup final at City Stadium, George Town, on Saturday.
The Brazilian defender calmly slotted home six minutes into injury time, ensuring both teams head into the second leg on level terms.
After a goalless first half in which Penang missed several chances, Dylan Wenzel-Halls made sure their hard work paid off when he broke the deadlock in the 70th minute.
The Australian striker latched onto a long ball into the box from central defender Faith Friday Obilor before firing past Sabah goalkeeper Damien Lim.
The Rhinos remained unfazed and, after being denied a penalty following an earlier VAR review, were later awarded another for a foul by goalkeeper Mohamad Ramadhan Ab Hamid on Peres inside the box.
Peres stepped up and made no mistake, firing a firm low shot into the bottom right corner, with Ramadhan diving the other way to silence the home crowd.
The hard-earned draw had head coach Juan Torres Garrido praising the fighting spirit of his players. What made it even more remarkable was that the Rhinos went into the match with a depleted squad of only 16 players, with the substitutes’ bench comprising four outfield players and one goalkeeper.
“We came with only 13 available outfield players due to various reasons, and some players are just coming back from injury.
“We were satisfied with our preparation and came to win. At the last minute, some things changed,” he said, without elaborating further during the post-match press conference.
He saw the first half as “more or less how we planned it” as the Rhinos aimed to control the game.
“The start of the second half was not good for us. We wanted to be more proactive at that moment, but we couldn’t find a way to escape the pressure.
“After conceding, we started to push and attack, and I’m satisfied with the players’ attitude because we believed until the end and got the equaliser,” he remarked.
Garrido vowed that the Rhinos will be well prepared for the winner-takes-all second leg at Likas Stadium on April 19. However, he stressed that the team must learn from their mistakes in the first leg, the most obvious being their failure to stop Penang from scoring the opener, as Dylan was given too much space unchallenged.
“It depends. We still have two weeks,” said Garrido when asked about his plan for the second leg.
He added that the likes of Miguel Cifuentes, Gary Steven Robbat, Jose Martin, and S. Kumaahran, who missed Saturday’s game, could recover in time to be available.
“We hope we can recover most of them, experienced players, so we can be more competitive over the 90 minutes.
“Today (Saturday), the players who came in made a difference. If this is the attitude of the players, I’m happy,” he concluded.