PETALING JAYA, 5 Sept – He played 80 minutes before being replaced but Nigerian hitman Ifedayo Olusegun had done enough damage by then as Selangor snatched a come from behind 2-1 win over Sabah in Friday’s Super League match at the Likas Stadium in Kota Kinabalu.
His brace at Likas took his tally to five goals – two behind leading scorer Dominque Da Sylva of Terengganu. The Mauritania striker failed to find the net in the 1-0 defeat against Melaka at the Hang Jebat Stadium on Friday.
Selangor head coach B. Sathianathan is more pleased with the three vital points earned in Likas and the manner in which his charges fought for the hard-fought win after a scoreless draw against Petaling Jaya City FC – thanks to their opponents “park the bus” tactics which denied the Red Giants despite dominating the match.
Against Sabah, the Red Giants fell behind to Serbian Rodoljub Paunovic’s goal (65th) there was no stopping Selangor when Olusegun got into the scoring act. He got his first on 72 minutes and the second eight minutes later before Satianathan took him out.
“I must give credit to the beautiful pitch. My players enjoyed the game on the well-maintained pitch. That played a part in my ‘out-dated’ tactics,” said the former national coach in an obvious dig at the management.
The Selangor management has given broad hints that Sathianathan’s contract will be reviewed at the end of the season even if the Red Giants win silverware. That message came from Selangor FA secretary Dr. Johan Kamal Hamidon.
While Olusegun is scoring it just the opposite for Spaniard Rufino Segovia. He has yet to score since the league resumed on Aug 28 but he scored five in Selangor’s friendly matches before the league got underway.
The injury-prone Segovia missed last season because of injuries and is probably cautious in a match proper for fear of getting injured again due to the high-intensity matches seen in the league so far.
Selangor next faces Melaka at home at the UiTM Stadium in Shah Alam before traveling south to face mighty Johor Darul Takzim (JDT). The Southern Tigers mauled Perak 7-0 in a high scoring match at the Sultan Ibrahim Stadium in Iskandar Puteri.
The Red Giants returned home today and Satianathan is keeping his fingers crossed that there are no major injuries when training resumes.
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