Skip to main content

Advertisement

Advertisement

Sufian’s a hat-trick hero as LionsXII thrash Pahang

SINGAPORE — LionsXII striker Sufian Anuar broke his scoring duck in the Malaysian Super League spectacularly when he scored a hat-trick in the Singapore team’s 4-1 win over league leaders Pahang at the Jalan Besar Stadium.

Lions XII players celebrating after Sufian Anuar scores a hat-trick against Pahang FA during the Malaysian Super League on April 15, 2014. Photo: Wee Teck Hian

Lions XII players celebrating after Sufian Anuar scores a hat-trick against Pahang FA during the Malaysian Super League on April 15, 2014. Photo: Wee Teck Hian

SINGAPORE — LionsXII striker Sufian Anuar broke his scoring duck in the Malaysian Super League spectacularly when he scored a hat-trick in the Singapore team’s 4-1 win over league leaders Pahang at the Jalan Besar Stadium.

The 26-year-old, who scored only once this season - in the FA Cup - prior to tonight’s (April 15) game, was actually a second-half substitute but eventually became the star of the show as the LionsXII bounced back from their shock 0-1 loss to Sime Darby on Saturday, to collect three precious points that will boost their hopes of keeping pace with the league leaders.

Fandi Ahmad’s men had entered the match having already lost twice to Pahang this season – in the league and in the FA Cup – and things did not look good when the visitors scored in the eighth minute through English defender Damion Stewart.

In a desperate roll of the dice, Fandi opted to push defender Safuwan Baharudin upfront, and the move paid off handsomely in the 29th minute when the LionsXII skipper pounced on the Pahang keeper’s punched clearance to slam the ball into the net for his fourth goal of the season.

Sufian came on for striker Khairul Nizam after the break and made his impact in the 79th minute when he poked Khairul Amri’s deflected shot past the Pahang keeper.

Amir was again the provider in the 92nd minute when he sent in a cross which Sufian lashed past the keeper into the net.

Sufian then completed his hatrick in the 96th minute after Amri had his header saved by the Pahang keeper. The ball bounced to Sufian who made it an emphatic victory for the LionsXII.

“It was wonderful to see Sufian finally scoring,” said a beaming Fandi after the game. “He has been very quiet the past few games but now he has found the net and I hope he will keep on scoring.”

But when asked who was his Man of the Match, Fandi replied: “Everyone because it was a fantastic team effort tonight.”

Pahang coach Zainal Abidin said the LionsXII deserved their win as his men “had played badly”.

“We started well, and then we played badly. This is a good lesson for us. We will bounce back from this,” said the former Malaysian international striker.

The LionsXII will now travel to Kuala Lumpur for their next match on Saturday against Selangor.

Read more of the latest in

Advertisement

Advertisement

Stay in the know. Anytime. Anywhere.

Subscribe to get daily news updates, insights and must reads delivered straight to your inbox.

By clicking subscribe, I agree for my personal data to be used to send me TODAY newsletters, promotional offers and for research and analysis.