BY ZULHILMI ZAINAL Follow on Twitter
Kelantan caretaker head coach Yusri Che Lah has apologised to their fans after they were trounced 4-1 by PKNS FC in their round three FA Cup match at the Shah Alam Stadium, on Saturday.
Returning to the same venue to face the same side that beat them 1-0 in their Malaysia Super League match last weekend, the visitors could do very little to avoid falling prey to the much superior hosts and being dumped out of the competition.
Romel Morales opened the floodgates with his penalty goal in the 17th minute after forcing Veenod Subramaniam into committing a handball, before Mahalli Jasuli doubled their lead in the 43rd minute. Former Malaysia striker Safee Sali made it 3-0 in the 61st minute before Rafael Ramazotti made it four seven minutes later. The Red Warriors' consolation goal came in injury time, a penalty by Mohammed Ghaddar.
Speaking to the press after the match, Yusri said that were on their backfoot after conceding two goals in the first half, which neccessitated them taking risks in the second in order to close the gap.
"What I had planned for tonight did not work out. We let in two goals in the first half, and we had to take risks in the second in order to pull one back, at least to give us a morale boost.
"But that only allowed them to score more. After the third goal, our confidence went away," said the former Malaysia international.
Yusri also apologised to their fans for the performance, and promised to work on his team in the coming international match domestic football break.
"I bear responsibility for the defeat and I apologise to our fans. I want the players to bounce back during the coming break.
"We must improve on our glaring weaknesses, in order to continue our league campaign," he remarked.
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