PETALING JAYA: Selangor and Sri Pahang shared the spoils after being tied 1-1 in their Super League encounter at the MBPJ Stadium today.
Sri Pahang will no doubt walk away as the happier of the two teams.
Their head coach Fandi Ahmad took a more conservative approach to the match, acknowledging the strength of Selangor, and played a counter attacking game that almost got them a surprise result.
It was the visitors who struck first in the 72nd minute when Stefano Brundo finished a loose ball after his initial penalty kick had been saved by Khairulazhan Khalid. The spot kick was awarded after Sharul Nazeem was judged to have fouled Baqiuddin Shamsudin inside the box.
The Red Giants threw the kitchen sink at Sri Pahang in search of an equaliser and their persistence was rewarded in the 88th minute when Brendan Gan nodded in to send the home crowd into raptures.
"We know how strong Selangor are, which is why we changed our tactics to 5-3-2. While the plan was to win, the bare minimum was to (at least) pick up a point," said Fandi after the game.
"We are happy with the results so far but we haven't found the best composition for the team yet, we still have another 2-3 players who are out (injured)."
A heavy downpour coupled with lightning warnings threatened to pause the game during the second half. Fortunately the conditions eased up towards the end of the match.
The heavy rain caused parts of the pitch to be unplayable and Selangor head coach Tan Cheng Hoe was adamant that it hampered his side.
Cheng Hoe was, however, pleased with the never-say-die attitude shown by his charges.
"It's slightly disappointing because we wanted to use our home ground advantage to get full points but the conditions at the end were difficult," said Cheng Hoe.
"To fight until the end without giving up showed our character and spirit, that's one positive point we can take from the game."
The draw puts Selangor temporarily at the top of the league with seven points from three matches while Sri Pahang climbed up one position to the fifth spot with five points from the same number of matches.
