KUCHING: Seo Seonung scored a brace as Super League newcomers Perak FC notched their first win of the season with a comfortable 2-0 victory over Kuching City FC in the Malaysia Super League (MSL) last night.
The South Korean struck twice on either side of half-time and put the hosts in control at Perak Stadium, ultimately ending a four-match winless streak in their MSL and Malaysia FA Cup outings.
Both sides traded chances for the most part in the first half where goalkeepers neither Perak FC’s Bryan See nor Kuching City FC’s Shaiful Wazizi, was really tested.
However, after 40 minutes into the game, Kuching City defenders switched off yet again. Perak’s target man Christian Obiozor dropped deep to receive the ball and shook off the lacklustre marking of Il Gatto’s holding midfielder Adam Shreen.
After shaking off Shreen, the Nigerian striker slipped the ball to the inside forward Seo who was cutting in from the left and the South Korean calmly took a shot inside the box.
Neither of the Kuching City defenders Jimmy Raymond nor Célio Santos bothered to step up to close him down when both of them were just a yard away from him. The tame shot also surprisingly went through the legs of Wazizi, and the goal put the hosts ahead 5 minutes before half-time.
Il Gatto came charging forward trying to find an equaliser and they had a chance soon after to equalise in the 43rd minute but Liberian poacher Abu Kamara’s powerful shot near the edge of the six-yard box was well wide of the mark.
A minute later in the 44th minute, Irfan Bakti’s men had another chance to level things up but after a scramble inside the box of Perak, Alif Hassan latched onto the loose ball and blasted a shot right from the spot where Kamara just missed a minute ago and his shot surprisingly struck the crossbar this time and the chance went begging yet again.
After weathering the storm in the first 10 minutes in the second half, Datuk Lim Teong Kim’s men regained control of the game and in the 56th minute, they scored and put the game to bed.
Midfielder Farris Izdiham dribbled down the left flank and shook off marker Raymond and squared the ball to the middle to Seo before Kuching City’s defender Aylton Alemão could intercept the ball.
Seo, from 20 yards out, did not hesitate as he curled a wonderful effort with his left foot into the left side of Wazizi’s net with the goalkeeper having absolutely no chance to save the shot.
Down 2-0, Il Gatto failed to thread any passes through the Perak defence and could not create any chances as The Gaurs were firmly in control of the game and never looked like they were going to surrender the game.
