Selangor head coach P. Maniam 25/2/2017Wawan Faiz/CSN

Maniam still happy with Selangor's performance despite defeat to Perak


BY        ZULHILMI ZAINAL       Follow on Twitter


Selangor head coach Maniam Pachaiappan was unperturbed by his team's 1-0 defeat to Perak at home in their round eight Super League (MSL) match on Saturday.

In fact, the Red Giants' boss was "happy" with the performance his men showed, especially in the second half.

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"In the first half we didn't play that well, but in the second half we came back stronger. We could see a lot of positive things in the team and we were slowly creating chances.

"...But then Ukah (centre back Ugo Ukah) received his second yellow card and they (Perak) got a penalty, and the game changed," said Maniam in the post-match press conference.

He also thought that his charges showed good character after going down to 10 men, after the Nigerian's sending off in the 67th minute.

"With 10 players Selangor showed good character, especially the (more) senior players like Razman [Roslan], Shamil (Nurshamil Abdul Ghani), Bunyamin [Omar].

"They worked really hard, I'm happy with the players' performance," revealed the former Selangor player.

The Red Giants forwards' inability to put away the chances they had in the match was glaring, as they had been doing most of the attacking in the match, just before a break by the Bos Gaurus led to the penalty and goal.

The absence of the injured Liberian forward Francis Doe has left Selangor without a target man, and forwards Juliano Mineiro, Victoras Astafei, Nurshamil and substitute Adam Nor Azlin all failed to find the back of the net in the match.

Despite this, Maniam said that he is reluctant to start thinking about the search for suitable replacements in the June transfer window when asked by the press, and prefers to continue working with the squad he has now.

"That (new signing) is too early I think. We need time to make decisions and talk to the management.

"These are the players we have now, and with them we have to work together. That's the most important thing and we (now) have a one-month break.

"This one month break, we have to prepare the team (and take them) to another level," promised the Selangor boss.

In the match that was held at the Selayang Municipal Stadium, the home side were dominating possession and doing most of the attacking, until centre back Ugo Ukah was adjudged to have handled the ball inside the Selangor penalty area in the 67th minute, and was shown his second yellow and given his marching orders.

The penalty was then converted by Zaquan Adha Abdul Razak, for the only goal of the match.

It was the Red Giants' second defeat in the MSL this season, and they dropped to fifth from third in the standings.

Coincidentally, the result was Perak's first win under new head coach Mehmet Durakovic, a former Selangor player and head coach.

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