BY ZULHILMI ZAINAL Follow on Twitter
"It's a dramatic win, one that nearly gave me a heart attack!"
That was Selangor head coach B. Satiananthan's opening remark in the post-match press conference, after his side recorded a stunning 4-3 come-from-behind win over Melaka United in their round eight Super League match on Saturday.
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Despite leading the encounter that was held at the Hang Jebat Stadium 2-1 at one point through veteran forward Amri Yahyah's brace, their defensive lapses allowed the hosts to take the lead in the second half, through goals by Patrick Reichelt (53') and Darko Markovic (70').
But late substitution Sean Selvaraj broke his duck this season in stunning fashion, heading in two goals to win the match for the Red Giants, in the 87th minute and in injury time, with both goals coming from set-piece situations.
The win also gave the visitors their fourth straight win of the season.
Satiananthan however expressed his unhappiness at the way his defence allowed the Mousedeers to come back into the match.
"We started well in the first half and created many chances while Melaka only resorted to sending long balls to Casagrande, which worked somewhat. We were leading 2-1 at halftime but Melaka pushed [midfielder] Safiq Rahim higher up the pitch in the second half and Darko lower, and that gave our defence a lot of trouble, which led to my team conceding two more goals.
"We can't be conceding three goals in every match. I'm a little disappointed with this, because we'd kept a clean sheet in our previous two matches. But I have to congratulate my team for never giving up and always putting in 100 per cent, and they were rewarded in the end [with the win]," said the former Felda United boss.
He however reserved his praise for two of his best performers of the night. Amri and Sean each recorded a brace, but the veteran forward also bagged an assist which helped Sean nod in his first of the night.
"I know my players; I'm happy for Amri who netted our first two goals, and later on in the match when he was played on the right, he did exactly as I had instructed him to do.
"And Sean has speed and height, both were used to great effect tonight. He's still young, a little inexperienced, so previously he was lower down the pecking order. But when introduced as a late substitution when he is fresher than most of the other players on the pitch, he can use his speed. Tonight he scored when he came on, but he also worked hard by helping out in defence.
"This shows our squad depth as well. We have players on the bench who can give us a little advantage when they are played," stated the trainer.
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