Afiq Fazail, Johor Darul Ta'zimAFC
Zulhilmi Zainal

MSL matchday four: JDT return to summit, Kelantan bounce back

Liga SuperKelantanSri PahangJohor Darul Ta'zimMelaka UnitedKuala Lumpur CitySelangorPerakKedah Darul Aman

Recap the weekend's action in round four of the Malaysia Super League, and watch the highlights here.

BY        ZULHILMI ZAINAL       Follow on Twitter

Round four of the Malaysia Super League served up some of the most tantalising clashes of the season yet, with the defending champions returning to the top of the standings and a promotional side moving close to the top.

In the first match to be played on the weekend, Terengganu compounded fellow promotional side Negeri Sembilan's misery; defeating the hosts 2-1 in Paroi on Friday. Ashari Samsudin opened the scoring in the 14th minute thanks to Tchetche Kipre's assist, but they took their foot off the pedal afterwards. Fakhrul Aiman Sidid nodded in the hosts' equaliser in the 74th minute, which ended in his injury and departure from the game, but with five minutes remaining Lee Jun-Hyub scored the visitors' winner, smashing in first time Fitri Omar's cross from the left.

Negeri Sembilan vs Terengganu highlights

On Saturday, Kelantan returned to winning ways following their sacking of head coach Sathit Bensoh, defeating Perak 3-2 at home in Kota Bharu. Nor Hakim Hassan gave the visitors the lead in the 22nd minute, lobbing goalkeeper Khairul Fahmi Che Mat. It took the visitors until the 68th minute to find the equaliser, when South Korean forward Do Dong-Hyun nodded in Badhri Radzi's early cross from the right, but the Bos Gaurus again took the lead just a minute later through former Kelantan man Wander Luiz. Dong-Hyun again restored parity in the 77th minute, heading in Badhri's pass. He then sealed his hat-trick in stunning fashion, scoring the winning goal with two minutes remaining on the clock by smashing the ball past goalkeeper Hafizul Hakim Khairul Nizam.

Kelantan vs Perak highlights

At Larkin, JDT bounced back from their shock defeat to KL with a 3-0 win over Melaka United. Read the report here.

JDT vs Melaka United highlights

In Cheras, Selangor fell to their second consecutive defeat to Pahang, when former striker Forkey Doe bagged a brace to help the visitors record a 3-1 win. Patrick Cruz opened the scoring on his Pahang debut, stabbing in Mohamadou Sumareh's low cross from the right in the seventh minute. But a rash challenge by Muslim Ahmad in his own box was punished with a penalty, and Red Giants' current top-scorer Rufino Segovia put it away to equalise. Just four minutes into the second half, Doe slotted the ball past goalkeeper Khairulazhan Khalid to retake the lead, and in the 71st minute he converted a penalty that was incorrectly given for a handball by Willian Pacheco, and that killed the game.

Selangor vs Pahang highlights

On Sunday, PKNP FC bounced back from defeat to edge Kuala Lumpur 2-1 at the Batu Kawan Stadium. The first goal of the match came only in the 65th minute, when Ritus Krjauklis smartly eluded his markers and headed in a corner kick delivery. 15 minutes later Kamarul Effandi Abdul Rahim made a blunder, allowing Irwan Syazmin Wahab's weak shot to slip underneath his right leg. Ganiesh Gunasegaran was forced into scoring an own goal in the 81st minute, but the visitors could not find the equaliser.

PKNP vs Kuala Lumpur highlights

Later that night, PKNS FC fell to a 4-3 home defeat to Kedah in an entertaining thriller. Faris Ramli scored a curling shot in the 32nd minute to open the scoring, but just minutes later Kedah were awarded a penalty which Liridon Krasniqi converted. Mahali Jasuli then retook the lead for PKNS two minutes into the second half with a strike from the edge of the Kedah penalty box, but Liridon again restored parity 10 minutes later, with a curler of his own. Skipper Baddrol Bakhtiar then helped Kedah lead for the first time by a shot that was nudged by Reuben Kathiripillai into his own net in the 70th minute, before Ariff Farhan Isa made it four in injury time with a fantastic shot from outside. Mahali made the scoreline closer just before the whistle was blown, sending his freekick into the top far corner.

PKNS vs Kedah highlights

Following the matches, JDT returned to the summit, while Terengganu rocketed to second place and Pahang moved up to third. Selangor dropped to fifth, Perak to ninth, while Kelantan moved out of the relegation zone to tenth in the standings. Interestingly, Terengganu will host JDT in round five of the league.

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