PETALING JAYA: Pahang had to play without the video assistant referee (VAR) at a new venue, the Temerloh Stadium on Saturday but their coach Fandi Ahmad is not complaining.
This is because the narrow 1-0 victory over Kelantan is the Elephant’s first in five years in an opening Super League match.
The VAR was not used during the match due to technical errors but the system was used in two other matches – at the Sultan Mizan Stadium between Terengganu and Perak as well as the Police-Kedah clash at the Selayang Stadium – on Saturday.
“We still have to play with or without VAR but it is still too early to judge on the implementation of the system,” said Fandi.
“We were surprised that there was no VAR but there’s no issue.
“The new Temerloh Stadium is good and I’m happy with the atmosphere. The fans are closer to the pitch and it’s lively.
“It’s quite humid during our training in the evening (5-7pm) but we need to get used to that.
“The most important thing is that we managed to win our first opening match in the league after five years. We have never gotten full points and this feels good.”
Manuel Hidalgo’s 54th minute goal ensured Pahang the narrow victory over neighbours Kelantan, who are also under new South Korean coach Park Jae-hong.
Pahang’s home venue, the Darulmakmur Stadium, is currently undergoing upgrading work where the five-decade old cow grass pitch will be replaced with Bermuda grass.
Despite the home side’s disciplined performance, Fandi is still not happy with Pahang’s inconsistency between intervals.
“We still have the problem where the players cannot perform well in both halves. They didn’t start well against Kelantan and only played better in the second half,” added Fandi.
“I have always stressed that they should start playing right away and not wait for 20-30 minutes because the opposition will start pressing us.”
Pahang’s next game is against Kuching City on May 17 while Kelantan will be hoping to capitalise on homeground advantage in Kota Baru on May 19.
