KUALA LUMPUR: Kuala Lumpur coach Risto Vidakovic was simply relieved that they managed to overcome a gritty Perak side to advance into the Malaysia Cup quarter-finals yesterday.
Vidakovic admitted he had to deal with concerns over squad depth and fatigue as the City Boys edged the Seladang 3-2 on aggregate in a dramatic second-leg clash that was decided in extra time at the Cheras Football Stadium yesterday.
“I didn’t expect such a hard game,” said Vidakovic.
“All the credit to Perak. They fought very, very hard. They defended deep and were tactically organised and disciplined. There was no space and it was very difficult to penetrate their defence.
“Also, we don’t have enough players to replace those who are unavailable. If Victor (Ruiz) or Nico (Dumitru) are injured, or if Safawi is tired, we don’t have any one who can step in.
‘’Paulo and Kpah (Sherman), because of age, cannot play many games in a row. These are key players, and when they’re missing, we struggle.”
Trailing 0-2 from the first leg, the City Boys dominated possession but were repeatedly frustrated by Perak’s compact shape.
Vidakovic said he had a simple game plan but it needed much effort than expected from his players to make it work.
“I told them we have to be persistent in moving up to create space. The players had to be patient to do that and luckily in the end, we achieved what we wanted,” he said.
KL had to wait until the 54th minute before breaking through via Safawi Rasid’s penalty. Captain Paulo Josue then curled in a superb free-kick in stoppage time to force the game into extra time. Substitute Nicolao Dumitru then headed home the winner late in the first half of extra time to complete the comeback.
KL will face Terengganu in the quarter-finals.
