Kedah punished for giving Perak too much room - Nafuzi

IPOH - Kedah Darul Aman (KDA) FC lost to Perak FC in their opening Malaysia Cup match last night mainly because they gave too much room to their opponents, said KDA coach Nafuzi Zain.

"Perak were the better team tonight, especially in the first half. We have to accept the fact that Kedah didn’t play as well as the hosts.

"We lost possession of the ball too frequently. You can’t afford that when playing against a team which were hungry for victory,” he told a post-match press conference here.

KDA lost 3-1 in the first-leg match at Stadium Perak despite taking a first-minute lead through

Manuel Ott’s goal.

Nafuzi said it was clear that his charges were punished by Perak because they gave the home team too much space to manoeuvre. After scoring the early goal, KDA were sent back-pedalling for most of the first half.

KDA seemed lost after Perak drew level through a penalty kick taken by Luciano Guaycochea three minutes after the interval.

Perak went ahead in the 55th minute when Luka Milunovic latched onto a cross from Firdaus Saiyadi.

KDA were reduced to 10 men after Rodney Celvin was red-carded for kicking Seo Seonung in the head in the 61st minute. Perak fully exploited the situation to take control of the match, scoring their third goal through substitute Hakimi Mat Isa in the 86th minute.

Meanwhile, Perak head coach Yusri Che Lah was happy with his team’s performance, especially in the second half.

"I’m thankful that Perak FC have finally won at home after a long while. We gave a spirited display to claim victory,” he said.

The two teams will meet again on Aug 18 at Stadium Darul Aman in Alor Setar, and the winners of the two-leg tie will go into the quarter-finals. - BERNAMA