Malaysia Cup: Shahfiq costs LionsXII
PUBLISHED ONAugust 26, 2013 9:00 PMByAli Kasim
SARAWAK 2 (Shakir Hamzah 11-og, Joseph Kalang Tie 70-pen) LIONSXII 1 (Safuwan Baharudin 77)
In two previous games, LionsXII forward Shahfiq Ghani produced two strikes of brilliance.
Against Perak in Ipoh, he scored a wondrous free-kick from well over 30 metres to rescue a point for his team. On Tuesday, he came off the bench to net a curling free-kick against Kedah at the Jalan Besar Stadium.
On Saturday night, at the Stadium Negeri in Kuching, the 21-year-old (above, No. 26) struck again - only this time, it was with his hands, across the face of Sarawak striker Muamer Selibasic.
He was sent off, and his recklessness also resulted in a penalty. It cost him his team the game, and even at this stage, maybe even the Malaysia Cup dream.
The LionsXII fell to a 2-1 defeat in front of a near-capacity 35,000 crowd and the result leaves the Malaysian Super League champions with just one point from two matches in Group D. With four games left, the side bottom of the table are staring at elimination.
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