PETALING JAYA: Sabah have booked a spot in the AFC Cup Asean Zone semi-final after beating Singaporean club Hougang United 4-1 at the Jalan Besar Stadium in Singapore on Thursday (Nov 30).
The Borneo club are assured to finish top of Group H as they have collected 12 points from five games. Even if they lose their final group tie against Indonesian club PSM Makassar, they remain top of the group.
In the game against Hougang, Sabah got the first goal in the 16th minute when Hougang centreback Naoki Kuriyama scored an own goal after deflecting leftback Daniel Ting’s cross from the left.
Striker Darren Lok scored the second when he buried a penalty in the 45th minute. Fellow striker Ramon Machado scored the third four minutes later when he finished off a rightback Rizal Ghazali’s cross with a sumptuous volley.
The fourth goal was also an own goal when Hougang fullback Anders Aplin inadvertedly deflected Rizal’s cross from the right in the 77th minute.
Hougang’s consolation came in the 90th minute through substitute winger Gabriel Quak.
