PETALING JAYA, 27 Sept – Sabah’s Thai striker Dennis Buschening scored a brace while Serbian, Rodoljub Paunovic added another as the East Malaysian state stunned Melaka United 3-2 in a come-from-behind win in the only Super League match at the Likas Stadium in Kota Kinabalu on Sunday.
It was one of the better performances from Sabah at home and it somewhat eased the team’s relegation survival although they will next travel to Johor Bahru to face six-time Super League champions in their next match on Oct 2.
The three points against Melaka moved Sabah to the ninth position in the 12-team league with nine points while Melaka is at seventh place with 11 points – ahead of eighth-placed Selangor on goal difference.
Melaka scored the opening goal of the night on a wet and slippery pitch through their Nigerian ace, Uche Agba after 15 minutes. Ten minutes later Sabah drew level with Buschening making it all square.
Sabah fell behind again when Haitian striker Sony Norde struck two minutes into injury time before the half-time break for Melaka to lead 2-1.
However, Sabah was back in the fight when Buschening got his name into the scoresheet on 64 minutes for his second goal and a 71st-minute penalty by Serbian hitman Rodoljub Paunovic sealed the match for the homesters.
Melaka next faces a tough, tough away match against Kedah in their next match.
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