KUALA LUMPUR, July 23 — Johor Darul Ta’zim (JDT) eased into the FA Cup semi-finals after defeating Melaka United 2-1 at Hang Jebat Stadium in Melaka tonight.
Melaka suffered an early setback when Ahmad Hazwan Bakri’s header penetrated Melaka’s goal in the fourth minute.
With six minutes left before the final whistle, Melaka captain Sony Norde equalised via a penalty.
But before things could settle, Bergson Da Silva slipped in the ball in injury time to present JDT a semi-final slot.
In Kota Kinabalu, Selangor FC also marched into the FA Cup semi-finals after crushing Sabah FC 2-0 at Likas Stadium.
Selangor went ahead in the first minute when Brendan Gan pounced on a defence lapse to send a through ball to Hyuri Henrique for a neat finish.
Selangor later added another goal in the 81st minute via a counter-attack which caught Sabah’s defence off guard when Herlison Caion netted a pass from Hein Htet Aung.
Also sailing into the semi-finals were Penang FC who trounced Sri Pahang FC 5-2 at Darul Makmur Stadium in Kuantan.
Sri Pahang opened the score via Andres Steven Rodriguez in the 11th minute followed by Mohamad Azwan Aripin in the 19th minute.
In the second half, Penang found their rhythm to equalise via T. Saravanan (45th minute) and Hilal Alhelwe (85th minute) which forced the match into extra time.
Penang continued their momentum, to add another three more goals via Lucas Espindola Da Silva (96th minute) and Hilal (99th minute) followed by K. Thivandran (116th minute) for a resounding victory for Penang.
In this regard, Terengganu FC (TFC) qualified for the FA Cup semi-finals after hammering Kuching City FC 4-1 in a match at Sultan Mizan Zainal Abidin Stadium, Kuala Terengganu tonight.
— Bernama
