PETALING JAYA: Kuala Lumpur have notched their second win in Group B of the Asean Club Championships at the KL Football Stadium on Thursday but key player Brendan Gan thinks the journey is still a long way.
KL earned a hard fought 1-0 win over Indonesia’s Borneo Samarinda FC with Brendan making the breakthrough for the City Boys in the 77th minute.
The first half ended scoreless despite both teams setting up numerous chances.
The turning point came in the 77th minute when a well-coordinated move, starting with Zhafri Yahya and Sean Giannelli, culminated in Brendan slotting home the decisive winner.
Super show: Brendan Gan scored the winning goal against Borneo Samarinda.
The outcome is a boost to KL who have been struggling with salary issues this season and are also in the midst of selecting a new president.
But Brendan did not want to take the credit for scoring the lone goal of the night, saying it is the result of teamwork and not giving up.
“The second win in a row will certainly boost the team’s motivation but it’s still a long way.
“To qualify for the next round, we are taking it one game at a time. We are in a difficult situation but we are all fighting for the club and each other.
“I think you can see that spirit on the pitch. But we don’t want to look too far ahead.
“We just hope we can continue this good performance after this.
KL are on the right track to advance to the semi-finals after gathering the maximum six points from two matches played in Group B.
KL are in second place in the group with six points, only trailing Vietnam’s Con An Hanoi on goal difference.
The best two teams from the two groups will advance to the knockout stage, which will be held in April next year.
After this, KL City are scheduled to face Lion City Sailors from Singapore on Jan 9.
KL coach Miroslav Kuljanac said the plan to employ a counter-attack strategy paid off.
“From the start we knew what the opposing team were capable of. So I emphasised that we wait for their mistakes and use our speed to counter attack,” he said.
“It turned out well and I’m happy with this result. We want to shift our focus to the Super League competition after this because this weekend’s action is also difficult.”
KL will resume Super League action against Penang in Cheras tomorrow.
Meanwhile, former Kapar member of Parliament Datuk Abdullah Sani Abdul Hamid is set to take on businessman Syed Yazid Syed Omar for the Kuala Lumpur Football Association (KLFA) presidency.
Nominations for posts in KLFA closed yesterday and Oct 12 is the date for the election.
