Reichelt fires Melaka into Top 4

Melaka head into the international break on a high after recording a slim win on Perak territory as Filipino Patrick Reichelt grabbed a brace to shoot to the top of the goal scoring charts in the 2019 Malaysia Super League as well as helping his team climb to fourth spot, ahead of Selangor.

The visitors fell behind to a Brendan Gan long range strike before Nazrin Nawi replied with his own version from a free kick. Right before the half time whistle, Reichelt scored his first when he turned Nazirul Naim inside the box and placed the ball beyond Khairul Amri in Perak's goal.

Perak roared back into contention as J. Partiban capitalised on Khairul Fahmi's meek punch to score in the 57th minute. But Melaka had the last laugh as Amri also spilled a catch to allow the alert Reichelt to grab the winner 15 minutes before the end to leave Zainal Abidin Hassan a very happy man heading into the break.

"In the first half we had very good movements with the inclusion of the two new imports. Even though we went behind, the boys showed tremendous fighting spirit and discipline. Again in the second half when Perak got their equaliser, we still created plenty of chances and we looked different from recent games.

"The players did their job well. Just that the fitness levels of the new players maybe aren't there yet as well some of the understanding to other players. But they did well today. They've only been here a couple of days, so there's a need for them to acclimatise with the whole thing here," said Zainal in the post-match press conference.

In the match, Melaka paraded their new captures in midfielder Dominic Balic and striker Davy Claude Angan. While still in the initial stage, Balic looked to have started off on the right note in his partnership with the experienced Safiq Rahim at the centre of midfield in this away win.

Immediately after the 2-week break, Melaka will welcome teams lower than them in the league standings and will fancy their chances of picking up more points to continue the positive momentum they've built. Terengganu FC at Hang Jebat Stadium will be the first opponent on June 16 before traveling to face Kuala Lumpur on June 19.

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