SELAYANG: Terengganu climbed to the top of the Premier League standings after a late penalty by Gabriel Davis Dos Santos secured a 2-1 win over Kuala Lumpur on Friday.
Victory in the top-of-the-table clash at the Selayang Stadium saw Terengganu gain a one-point lead over Negri Sembilan with KL slipping from top to third, a further point behind.
Perak State Economic Development Corporation are three points behind the leaders after a 4-0 win over Armed Forces in Tanjung Malim in an evening kickoff.
KL began the day top of the standings but fell behind in the 19th minute when Kipre Tchetche scored with a curling effort from outside the box.
Guilherme De Paula pulled KL level with a thunderous shot in the 63rd minute for his league-leading 21st goal of the season.
However, Dos Santos netted from the spot with five minutes remaining after referee J. Suresh penalised KL defender Helmi Remeli for a trip on Tchetche as KL's eight-match winning run in the league came to a halt.
"I'm happy with the win as it gives us a bit of breathing room in the standings but there are still five more matches to play and we haven't won anything yet," said Terengganu coach Irfan Bakti Abu Salim.
The match was marred by ugly scenes after the final whistle with armed security personnel required to escort Suresh and the other match officials to the dressing room after agitated KL fans tried to throw missiles at them.
Even Kuala Lumpur FA president Datuk Seri Adnan Md Ikhsan was moved to confront the referee and had to be restrained by the match commissioner.
Negri climbed to second after beating Kuantan 3-0 in Paroi thanks to two goals by Jonathan Behe after Lee Tuck opened the scoring.
Shahrel Fikri Fauzi also scored twice in Perak SEDC's win over Forces with Hafiz Ramdan and Kim Hyeon-woo getting the other goals.
Perlis climbed out of the relegation zone by beating Police 2-1 in Kangar but the Malaysian Indians look headed for the drop after a 2-1 defeat to Sabah in Kota Kinabalu.