IT was an emotional night for Selangor’s Sean Eugene Selvaraj as he scored his first goal for the 33-time Malaysia Cup champions in the 2-1 win over his former club, Negri Sembilan in a Super League match at Selayang Stadium on Saturday.
The win is Selangor’s third in the league.
Spaniard Rufino Segovia opened for Selangor in the 34th minute before Sean, who spent most of his career at Negri, added a second with a fine finish in the 56th minute.
As expected, the 22-year-old did not celebrate after scoring the goal.
Forward N. Thanabalan reduced the deficit for Negri in the 64th minute.
“Negri will always be special as they were my first club. Although, I represent Selangor now, they will always be in my heart. This is part of football.
“It was my first start for Selangor and it is great to finally score a goal. There are mixed feelings, but I have to continue performing well as I am a professional player,” said Sean.
It was a sweet victory for Selangor considering that they were without Indonesians Evan Dimas and Ilham Udin Armaiyn, who are both on an international assignment, along with Razman Roslan.
Selangor coach Nazliazmi Nasir praised Sean for adding more depth in the team’s attack.
“I hope the goal will raise Sean’s confidence for our upcoming matches. He needs to work hard as there are still limitations in his game.
“As a coach, I want him to develop into a good forward. He has quality but needs polishing in some aspects,” said Nazliazmi.
Defending champions Johor Darul Ta’zim (JDT) maintained their four-point lead at the top of the standings by overcoming an early blemish to edge Kelantan 2-1 in Kota Baru.
Lebanese Mohammed Ghaddar netted against his former club to hand Kelantan the lead in the 12th minute.
However, JDT responded through goals by Safiq Rahim (37th) and Natxo Insa (82nd) for their six win of the season.
JDT coach Raul Longhi said: “We needed to change our style as Kelantan played an impressive pressing game.
“My players gave their total commitment throughout the match. Winning away from home is always a great result, and we achieved it today,” said Longhi.
