Football: LionsXII advance to Malaysia Cup semi—finals

SINGAPORE: The LionsXII are through to the semi—finals of the Malaysia Cup after they beat Pahang 2—0 at the Jalan Besar Stadium in the second—leg quarter—final match on Tuesday evening.

The LionsXII won 3—2 on aggregate as Pahang had won the first leg 2—1 in Kuantan.

The win also means Singapore is one step away from the final of the Malaysia Cup — which they last won 17 years ago!

Singapore started off aggressively and kept the pace up.

Skipper Shahril Ishak headed the crucial opening goal in the 35th minute and the Lions held on.

Shahril then scored his second with another header in the 79th minute, making it 2—0 for the hosts.

Mr V. Sundramoorthy, Head Coach of LionsXII, said the Singapore side were fortunate to survive the early scare in the first 15 minutes when Pahang had at least two to three clear chances to take the lead, but failed to do so. He said as the game progresses, the LionsXII settled down to snatch goals from Shahril.

The LionsXII will now take on Angkatan Tentera Malaysia (ATM) in the two—leg semi—finals, starting this Friday at home at the Jalan Besar Stadium at 8:30pm.

The return leg in Malaysia is on 11 October at 8.30pm.

MediaCorp Channel 5 will telecast ’live’ both the home and away legs of the Malaysia Cup semi—final between the LionsXII and Angkatan Tentera Malaysia.

— CNA/ir/de