T.D.N.N.: MSL: LionsXII vs Selangor, hard-fought but not enough

They have won their last four Malaysian Super League games, and were hoping to extend the streak against their biggest rivals – Selangor.

Unfortunately, the Lions failed to record their fifth win in a row, as the match ended 1-1, courtesy of a 63rd minute opener by Sufian Anuar and a late equaliser by Selangor’s Bosko Balaban.

It was never going to be easy for the LionsXII, especially with key players like Baihakki Khaizan and Izwan Mahbud ruled out through injury.

In addition to the injuries, captain Shahril Ishak – who has been in fine form recently – started the match from the bench, sparking concerns in the sellout Jalan Besar stadium as to whether the home side could get off to a good start.

The visitors almost took the lead as early as the third minute when striker Bosko Balaban headed wide off an inswinging corner. The former Croatian international should have given his side the lead then but Sundram and his boys were happy at their stroke of luck.

Despite that early scare, the Lions were struggling to put up a decent attack without Shahril on the pitch and had to rely on set-pieces to record their best chances of the half.

Selangor on the other hand, were piling bodies forward and were clearly winning the midfield battle. Unfortunately for them, the LionsXII defence, superbly marshalled by Hariss and Shevki Sha’ban, were proving to be a hard nut to crack.

The visitors then came ever so close to breaking the deadlock as another corner caused all sorts of confusion in the LionsXII penalty area, but Shakir Hamzah pulled off a brilliant goal-line clearance to keep the game goalless.

Both sides would have welcomed the half-time whistle, but the Lions should be happy they did not concede a goal going into the break.

But the home side put up a much-improved performance after the break and had the Selangor defence scrambling on several occasions to keep the scores level.

And their efforts paid off in the 63rd minute when Sufian Anuar connected beautifully with a sweet cross from the left and headed the ball past the Selangor goalkeeper and give his side a welcome 1-0 lead.

But that sparked the visitors into life and their relentless attacks put the Lions under immense pressure, forcing them to concede several fouls.

And that proved to be costly as former Aston Villa striker Balaban drove in a powerful free-kick from the edge of the area in the 82nd minute to bring his side level.

Balaban had a golden opportunity to put his in the lead but LionsXII goalkeeper Hyrulnizam pulled off a spectacular flying save to deny the Croatian his second of the night.

In the end the LionsXII secured a very hard-fought point which was not enough to pull them level with league leaders Kelantan.

But don’t write off their chances for the title yet, there’s still plenty of football to be played.

#	Team		M.	V	P	D	goals	Dif	Pt.
1		Kelantan FA	10	7	2	1	18:7	11	23
2		Terengganu FA	10	6	2	2	17:9	8	20
3		Singapore Lions XII	10	6	2	2	14:8	6	20
4		PBDKT T-Team FC	10	6	1	3	18:7	11	19
5		Perak FA	10	5	1	4	11:12	-1	16
6		Selangor FA	10	4	3	3	11:9	2	15
7		Negeri Sembilan FA	10	4	3	3	15:14	1	15
8		Sabah FA	10	3	4	3	13:15	-2	13
9		PKNS FC	10	1	8	1	11:10	1	11
10		Sarawak FA	10	3	2	5	10:11	-1	11
11		Johor FC	10	3	1	6	12:15	-3	10
12		Kedah FA	10	2	4	4	7:14	-7	10
13		Felda United FC	10	2	2	6	7:15	-8	8
14		Kuala Lumpur FA	10	0	1	9	2:20	-18	1