Kelantan were able to shrug off their off-the-pitch issues with a resounding 3-1 win over PKNS away at the Shah Alam Stadium
With their match against Melaka last week postponed, Kelantan were looking to start their campaign with a win, and they did just that thanks to a Mohammed Ghaddar brace and a goal from captain Mohd Badhri with captain Gonzalo Soto scoring for PKNS.
Kelantan had the first chance when Norfarhan tried to steer his shot into the near post after cutting in from the right, but it was easily saved by Nor Haziq.
PKNS then had a chance when Patrick Wleh’s pass found Matias Jadue on the right side of the box, but Khairul Fahmi was able to close the gap down and prevented Matias to shoot.
Both sides couldn’t find a way into the final third. However, it was Kelantan who found themselves in the lead. Indra Putra’s beautiful free-kick was saved by Nor Haziq, only for Ghaddar to score the rebound.
It was only a minute later that it had gone from bad to worse for PKNS when Alessandro Celin was pushed away from meeting Ghaddar’s cross and Kelantan was given a penalty.
Ghaddar saw his penalty saved, but he converted the rebound that saw Kelantan double their lead.
As time goes on, Kelantan became more aggressive. But PKNS had a glorious chance to pull one back when Patrick’s backheel pass from just outside the box found Safee Sali, who was one-on-one with Khairul, only to find his shot saved.
But PKNS do get one back with the last chance of the half. After Norhafiz Zamani’s foul on Patrick by the halfway line, the resulting free-kick found captain Soto whose header looped into the net.
However, any hopes of a comeback was extinguished when with only three minutes gone in the second half, Mohd Badhri curled in a beautiful free-kick on the lower right-hand side of the goal, just out of Nor Haziq’s reach to restore the Red Warriors’ two-goal lead.
And Ghaddar had numerous chances to complete his hat-trick. A nice passing play between Indra Putra and Celin found the Lebanese, only to scuff his shot over.
And Ghaddar had a better chance after being found by Norfarhan Muhammad, but his shot from the left side just scraped the right post.
PKNS thought they got another one back with Safee Sali heading in after another one-on-one with Khairul when the ball ricochet off the keeper into the air, but the goal was disallowed for a foul on the Kelantan keeper
Indra Putra himself could’ve got into the scoresheet on the 71st minute after a neat 1-2 with Celin, but he somehow shoots wide of the left-hand side of the goal.
PKNS tried to find a way back into the match, but Kelantan held on as PKNS was given a stark reminder of life back into the Super League following last week’s 1-0 loss against FELDA United
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