Elephants edge Red Ants to heap pressure on Perak

The Elephants leapfrogged over their opponents on the day after securing a 1-0 win at Darul Makmur Stadium on Saturday.

The three points gained over PKNS FC sees Pahang move back up to third place in the Super League standings and are now only one point behind Perak.

Matthew Davies was the only absentee for Dollah Salleh as he was able to field a starting line-up very similar to the he used in the FA Cup final. 

As for K. Rajagopal, the absences in his squad was a far bigger worry as he had to do without the key duo of Rafael Ramazotti and Romel Morales. 

Hence Bruno Matos was pushed further forward in attack but it was the home side who made all the early hard running.

In the 26th minute, PKNS' kepeer Zarif Irfan fumbled a high cross and that allowed Issey Nakajima-Farran the easiest of task of heading the ball into an empty net to put Pahang ahead.

The Red Ants did came back strongly into the game and forced Pahang's Helmi Eliza into several good saves, particularly one from Matos in the first half.

However, despite sending on Safee Sali to beef up the attack, PKNS were unable to break down the defensive barrier led by the impressive Muslim Ahmad.

Pahang and PKNS will face Kelantan and Perak respectively in their final fixture of the 2018 Super League season.