# PKNS FC too strong for Sime Darby at Hang Jebat Stadium
# Perak edge Kuala Lumpur 1-0 at Selayang Stadium
# Kedah held in Alor Setar but advance 3-2 on aggregate
Premier League outfit PKNS FC marched into the FA Cup semi-finals with ease with a 3-2 win over Sime Darby in the return-leg quarter-final at the Hang Jebat Stadium in Malacca on Friday night.
PKNS rode on their 4-0 lead from the first-leg in Selayang. The Selangor club were 2-0 up inside 17 minutes after Argentine hot-shot Gabriel Guerra opened scoring on 11 minutes and Shakir Ali made it 2-0 on the night and 6-0 on aggregate with the second in the 17th minute.
Former Penang player Lee Gil Hoon reduced the deficit for Sime Darby but another of their Argentine hitman Juan Manuel Cobelli took the score to 3-1 for PKNS and E. Elavarasan wisely substituted some of his key players – knowing that a place in the FA Cup semis is theirs for the taking.
Frederic Pooda got Sime Darby’s second goal in the 79th minute but the plantation giants were well beaten in the first-leg and never recovered from the 4-0 defeat.
In the FA Cup semi-finals PKNS will face Perak while Kedah will await the winner of the Johor Darul Takzim versus Police tie at the Larkin Stadium on Saturday. JDT take a 1-0 lead from the first-leg played at the Hang Jebat Stadium.
Perak edged Kuala Lumpur 1-0 in the return-leg at the Selayang Stadium to advance 2-0 on aggregate. Nurridzuan Abu Hassan scored with a rising left footed shot in the 42nd minute. Perak also won the first-leg in Ipoh by a 1-0 margin.
In another return-leg quarter-final played at the Darulaman Stadium in Alor Setar, Sabah held Kedah to a 1-1 draw but could not stop the Red Eagles from advancing to the semi-finals on a 3-2 aggregate.
For Elavarasan a place in the FA Cup semi-finals would not have come at a better time for his team to face JDT II in a Premier League match at the same venue on Monday.
“After five matches the Premier League is still open. It is an important match for PKNS and we need a win against JDT II to keep ourselves within the top bracket,” said Elavarasan.
FA CUP QUARTER FINAL RESULTS (April 1)
Kedah 1 Sabah 1
(Kedah advance 3-2 on aggregate)
Kuala Lumpur 0 Perak 1
(Perak advance 2-0 on aggregate)
PKNS FC 3 Sime Darby 2
(PKNS advance 7-2 on aggregate)
