Thu, 28 Oct, 2021
Kuala Lumpur: Selangor were crowned 2015 Malaysia Cup champions on Saturday after claiming a 2-0 win over ten-man Kedah in the final at the Shah Alam Stadium.
Ahmad Hazwan Bakri proved to be the hero for the Red Giants as his clinically-taken brace proved enough to see off Kedah, and hand his side their first Malaysia Cup title since 2005.
It caps off a fine season for Mehmet Durakovic’s charges, who have been drawn in Group E for next season’s AFC Cup, after they had also finished runners-up to Johor Darul Ta’zim in the Malaysia Super League.
With their last major piece of silverware coming in 2010, Selangor entered the final with plenty of pressure from their success-starved faithful.
But they did not show signs of being burdened by the weight of their expectations, taking the lead after just three minutes when Hazwan did well to latch on Guilherme’s visionary through-ball before lifting his shot past the onrushing Firdaus Muhamad.
The combination worked a treat once again in the 47th minute when Guilherme once again picked up possession inside the opposition half and threaded a pass through to Hazwan, who made no mistake firing home from an acute angle.
To make matters worse for Kedah, they were reduced to ten men with seven minutes remaining when goalkeeper Firdaus was shown a straight red for handling an S. Veenod shot outside his box.
With the numerical deficit, any hopes Kedah had of a late fightback were effectively ended as Selangor held out to claim their 33rd Malaysia Cup.
Photo: asiana.my