PETALING JAYA: When Selangor failed to win their first two away games, questions were raised if the club had what it takes to steal points and fight with table toppers Johor Darul Ta’zim (JDT).They lost to Kuala Lumpur 0-1 on July 14 and they were held by Pahang 1-1 on July 31.
They did eventually get their first away win when they beat Sabah 2-1 at the Likas Stadium in Kota Kinabalu on Aug 13 but the pressure intensified when they lost to JDT 1-6 in the FA Cup final on Aug 24.
After that match, they bounced back by thrashing Kuching 4-0 at home and on Saturday, they shocked Terengganu 1-0 at the Sultan Mizan Stadium in Gong Badak.
Nidzam Jamil’s side got the lead as early as 30 seconds when Chilean striker Ronnie Fernandez finished off a pass from Venezuelan playmaker Yohandry Orozco with a 20-metre screamer.
After that goal, Selangor played a conservative game to ensure they left Terengganu with three points and strengthened their hold of the second spot with 25 points from 11 matches.
Nidzam was delighted to see his boys putting up a battling performance to ensure they got the win.
“We didn’t win many away games this year, so this was important for our morale. We needed to get away from the notion that we fail to win away matches,” he said.
“The game was open till the last minute but we stayed resilient to ensure we stayed top two in the league.
When asked if his win was purely luck, Nidzam had a classy reply to it by saying, “We are sportsmen. Luck happens when there is preparation and hard work. If you do not have those two elements, then there will be a possibility of bad luck.
“And you need some tactical planning too. When coach Tomi (Tomislav Steinbruckner) brought in (Ismaheel) Akinade and CJ (Chijioke Nnabuike) and then some attackers as substitutes, we had to take care of it.
“Tactically, we had to bring in Jimmy (Ahmad Khuzaimi Piee) for the last 10 minutes. He played a top, top game despite not having game time for almost four months.
“In Selangor, we do not see those who begin the game but we see the ones finishing the game. The changes we made ensured that we ended the game with three points.”
