PETALING JAYA: Coach Datuk Ong Kim Swee is having cold sweat after Sabah were left in a precarious spot.
Kim Swee was far from pleased after his team missed out on a great opportunity to strengthen their No. 2 spot in the Super League after losing 2-3 to Selangor at the Likas Stadium on Saturday.
They are still second but the defeat has given Negri Sembilan a golden opportunity to overtake the Rhinos.
Sabah have 36 points while Negri lurk just a point behind with four matches to go.
The Rhinos were trailing 0-2 when the Red Giants scored through 20-year-old midfielder Mukhairi Ajmal Mahadi (24th minute) and captain Brendan Gan (25th).
They levelled the score at 2-2 through Baddrol Bakhtiar (30th) and Jose Embalo (41st) but Hein Htet Aung crushed their hopes when he scored the winning goal in the 76th.
Kim Swee feels they are living dangerously after the defeat.
“Fatigue was our downfall. We tried to catch up after being left behind 0-2 and that took lots of energy from the players,” said Kim Swee.
“In the second half, we were a little tired. We created chances but didn’t finish them and we lost focus. We had to chase again but this time we didn’t get the equaliser.
“It’s something that we need to rectify as we went through the same thing in our previous match (where Sabah drew 2-2 with Kuala Lumpur) last week.”
Kim Swee, however, was happy to see Portuguese new import Embalo getting on the scoresheet.
“I hope that his first goal will give him confidence for the remaining matches,” he said.
Embalo was previously criticised by home supporters because he did not impress in the last few matches.
Selangor coach Mohd Nidzam Jamil was pleased to earn his first victory after taking over from German Michael Feichtenbeiner in June.
It’s the second positive result after a 1-1 draw against Johor Darul Ta’zim last week.
“Luck also played a part. It is important for us to maintain the same attitude and mentality every week,” he said.
“I hope we can continue to keep the momentum from these last two games.”
