The night belonged to Mauritania striker Dominique Da Sylva whose four goals saw Terengganu destroy Kedah 4-3 in a seven-goal Super League thriller at the Darulaman Stadium in Alor Setar on Saturday.
Both teams had gone into the match on equal footing after losing their first-round matches. FA Cup champions Kedah lost 0-1 to six-team Super League champions Johor Darul Takzim in the Charity Shield match which also counted towards league points while Terengganu fell 1-3 to Perak at home.
What hurts the Red Eagles most is that Kedah led 3-1 and 3-2 after conceding a second-minute goal with Da Sylva heading home a corner by skipper Lee Tuck.
However, Brazilian defender Renan Alves made it 1-1 on 19 minutes and three minutes later Liberian striker Kpah Sherman gave Kedah fans plenty to cheer with the second goal. Ivory Coast hitman Kipre Tchetche scored against his former team for Kedah’s third goal on the hour mark.
However, Terengganu was not finished yet. So was Dominique who was simply too hot to handle at the Darulaman Stadium and he got his second on the night in the 64th minute.
The 30-year-old added two in quick time in the 82nd and 84th minutes and the Turtles took home a deserved win.
At the National Stadium in Bukit Jalil, Selangor and Perak shared the spoils with a 1-1 draw. Shahrel Fikri gave Perak a 1-0 lead after 10 minutes before Idefayo Olusegun equalized for the Red Giants in the 31st minute.
Sabah hammered Felda United 3-1 at the Likas Stadium in Kota Kinabalu with goals by Serbian striker Rodoljub Paunovic (12th), Korean defender Park Tae-Su (39th) and Maxsius Musa (78th). Singapore international Khairul Amri scored Felda’s consolation goal.
Six-time Super League champions Johor Darul Takzim (JDT) was made to slog for their 2-1 win over newcomers UiTM FC at the Sultan Ibrahim Stadium in Iskandar Puteri.
Diogo dos Santo (9th) and Nazmi Faiz Mansor (69th) were the scorers for the Southern Tigers while French defender Victor Nirennold netted UiTM’s solitary goal in the 20th minute.
Melaka United and JDT top the table standings after two matches with six points and each but separated by goal difference followed by Perak, Sabah, Petaling Jaya City FC and Selangor with four points each.
Kedah, Pahang, and UiTM are at the bottom without a point after two matches. RIZAL ABDULLAH
