Kedah – nicknamed the Red Eagles – made a meal out of the Red Ants (PKNS FC) – in the Battle of the Reds in the first-leg FA Cup quarter-final match with an impressive 3-1 win at the Shah Alam Stadium on Tuesday.
It was all the more painful swoop for the Red Ants when they had their Kyrgystan defender Tamerlan Kozubaev red carded for an early shower in the 32nd minute.
The match was only into the 12th minute when Kedah took the initiative with the opening goal by Fernando Rodriguez before Argentine hitman Jonatan Bauman took over the show with a brace.
His first came via a penalty on 25 minutes which he coolly converted and added his second just before the half-time whistle for a healthy 3-0 lead.
PKNS pulled one back through Gabriel Guerra on 64 minutes but Datuk K. Rajagobal’s men have a mountain to climb in the return-leg next as away goals feature in the knockout stage.
At the Cheras Football Stadium, it was a six-goal thriller as Felda United battle to a 3-3 draw with Kuala Lumpur in a match which could have gone either way for both teams.
The highlight of the thriller was a brace each by KL’s former international Indra Putra Mahayuddin who scored in the 40th and 53rd minutes while Abdul Azim Rahim got his double for Felda in the 23rd and 60th minutes.
Paulo Josue netted KL’s third goal in the 80th minute with Brazilian Jounei Schad getting Felda’s third on 75 minutes.
At the Manjung Municipal Stadium, it was a scoreless draw between PKNP FC (Perak SEDC) and Perak – an encouraging result for PKNP’s Abu Bakar Fadzim after his team was mauled 4-0 in a league match at the same venue a week earlier. – BY RIZAL ABDULLAH