Machado proves his worth in Rhinos battle against Turtles

PETALING JAYA: Sabah’s Brazilian striker Ramon Machado was signed up during the second transfer window in June and he continues to show his worth.

The 32-year-old was truly on song against Terengganu when he scored a goal and made an assist in Rhinos 4-0 win at the Sultan Mizan Stadium in Gong Badak on Friday.

He finished off rightback Rizal Ghazali’s cross with a superb scissor-kick inside the box in the sixth minute to get his team off to a brilliant start.

In the 47th minute, Machado turned provider when his left-footed cross from the left flank was finished off by winger Jafri Firdaus Chew.

Machado, who joined Sabah from Azerbaijani club Gabala in June, was happy to deliver.

“A great match from the whole squad. Every goal scored is a result of teamwork,” he said.

In all the competitions this season, Machado has scored 12 goals in 17 matches.

In the Super League alone, he has scored eight goals to become the club’s best attacker so far this season.

The other goals against Terengganu were scored by Indonesian winger Saddil Ramdani in the 28th minute and Spanish midfielder Miguel Cifuentes in the 39th minute. Both goals were long-range beauties.

The win sees Sabah closing the gap with third-placed Kedah by just two points. The Borneo side now have 48 points from 24 games.

Machado added: “We have to beat Perak (Dec 3, away) and Kedah (Dec 17, home) to finish third in the league.

“Not only that, we also have the AFC Cup, where we will face Hougang United on Nov 30 in Singapore. We will reach the next stage if we beat them.”