KL get to celebrate at last

27/05/1998

OLYMPIC 2000 ... 1 K LUMPUR ... 2
THE match belonged to Olympic 2000 but Kuala Lumpur walked away with their
first win in Premier One at Merdeka Stadium last night.
Olympic took the lead in the 48th minute but their celebrations lasted
only a minute. Before they could re-organise themselves, P. Sarawanan was
in the right place at the right time to put KL on level terms.
Although the Olympic players were fitter, played with more drive and
determination, they were let down by some terrible shooting.
The Olympic side used long balls to trouble KL in the opening 10
minutes. When Khalid Jamalus was brought down in the box in the fifth, the
handful of fans joined in the calls for a penalty.
The linesman, however, raised his flag to indicate an offside.
Off a counterattack, KL forward S. Paidiya Rau received the ball in the
box but Jamsari Sabian denied him by pulling off a diving save.
The match picked up steam with both sides having good chances at goal
but poor finishing was the order of the day.
Olympic earned a corner in the 23rd minute but Khalid's header sailed
over by centimetres.
KL then slowed the pace and it seemed as though they were willing to
settle for a draw.
Their best chance before halftime came when G. Muthu made a fine run
down the left but there were no takers for his cross.
The pace picked up again on resumption. In the 48th minute, defender
Yuzaiman Zahari sent a long ball to an unmarked Khalid, who chipped over
KL goalkeeper Azmin Azran. The ball graced the foot of the post and went
in.
A minute later, Yuzaimam brought down K. Nanthakumar just outside the
box and was flashed the yellow card. Sarawanan curled in the ball from the
freekick and it beat goalkeeper Jamsari for the equaliser.
In the 63rd minute, Khalid was replaced by V. Saravanan and Olympic
opted to defend than attack. KL seized the opportunity and took the fight
to the Olympic box for a good 10 minutes but wild shooting denied them.
Adilson Roque, who flirted in and out for much of the match, made a good
pass in the 78th minute to an unmarked Paidiya Rau, who beat a defender
and goalkeeper Jamsari for KL's winner.
KUALA LUMPUR: Azmin Azram, Zolkipli Sameon, M. Karunakaran, M. Chandran,
S. Paidiya Rau, Ghani Malek, K. Nanthakumar, Adilson Roque, G. Muthu, Tan
Cheng Hoe, P. Sarawanan.
OLYMPIC 2000: Jamsari Sabian, Ahmad Fadli, Chia Ching Kar, S.
Jayaprakash, Rosle Derus, Chow Chee Weng, Fazillah Mamat, Azlan Hussain,
Das Gregory, Yuzaiman Zahari, Khalid Jamlus (V. Saravanan).
(END)