PETALING JAYA: Mehmet Durakovic’s return to Malaysian football has yet to yield a win in the Super League, with his Star City side held to a 1-1 draw by Terengganu at the Tuanku Syed Putra Stadium in Kangar on Saturday.
The result leaves Star City still searching for their first three points of the Super League season, having lost their opening two matches before drawing the last two.
They fell to Sabah (1-3) and JDT (0-7), before being held 2-2 by Negri Sembilan and now 1-1 by the Turtles.
Star City took the lead in the 55th minute through Brazilian striker Douglas Oliveira (pic), who latched onto a lofted through-ball from compatriot and midfielder Pedro Santos before slotting a cool finish past Terengganu goalkeeper Suhaimi Hussin.
But the home side hit back in the 76th minute when naturalised Colombian striker Romel Morales converted a free-kick delivered by Spanish midfielder Victor Ruiz.
Durakovic said the result was hard to take given his side’s performance.
“This result is hard to take. We played brilliantly from start to finish, and with the sheer number of chances we created, we should have put the game to bed at 2-0,” he said.
“We are operating with a small squad and carrying critical injuries – Rizal (Ghazali) and Pedro both picked up serious knocks – which forced us to rely on our young players.
“From start to finish, the boys gave everything they had. As a coach, you cannot complain about that level of commitment. We are growing more cohesive with every match, but we must learn to be clinical.”
