With Petaling Jaya City FC hot on their heels, Abu Bakar Fadzim knows that the only way to keep their hopes of challenging for a top two finish in Group A relied on them getting something out of their home encounter against Super League champions, Johor Darul Ta'zim.
It wasn't eay and after 14 minutes, they were already trailing two goals behind through a brace from Gonzalo Cabrera. However, Yashir Pinto and Giancarlo Lopes completed a miraculous comeback for the tiny club to give them four points after three matches played.
"The game tonight (Friday) left us feeling a bit disappointed because at the end we had a chance. The start we were punished by JDT because of silly mistakes. We struggled in the first 15 minutes but after we changed to 4-5-1 and I was impressed with our performance.
"We changed our approach from defending to attacking. The penalty helped us and I challenged the players to go all out in the second half. We are pleased with the point and the journey is still long for us to fight in the Malaysia Cup," said Abu Bakar after the match.
PKNP started their 2019 Malaysia Cup campaign on the road for the first two matches which they garnered three points after a defeat to PJ City and winning at UiTM FC. Home form at Manjung Municipal Council Stadium is always expected to play a crucial role to determine if the plucky club can reach the knockout stage.
After holding JDT to a second draw at their home ground, the result will give Abu Bakar and the boys plenty of boost as they plan towards a difficult away trip to Johor Bahru for the reverse fixture, a week from now.
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