PERAK bounced back from a poor first half to edge Terengganu 4-1 on penalties after a 3-3 draw in regulation time to win the Malaysia Cup for the eighth time at the Shah Alam Stadium yesterday.
However, the match was marred with poor decisions by referee Suresh Jayaraman which upset both teams and the fans. Both teams ended up with only 10 players each on the pitch when the final whistle blew.
Suresh’s controversial decisions also caught the attention of former FA of Malaysia (FAM) president Tunku Ismail Sultan Ibrahim.
“The referee for the final today is bad, I have never seen him and I am surprised why he was picked for the match.
“This is why the MFL (Malaysian Football League) want to bring in foreign referees for important matches,” said Tunku Ismail on his Twitter account.
In the penalty shootout, Perak scored through Wander Luiz, Amirul Azhan Aznan, Shahrul Saad and Leandro Dos Santos.
Igor Zonjic and Thierry Chantha Bin both missed the opening two spot kicks for Terengganu.
With the win, Perak coach Mehmet Durakovic has now won the Malaysia Cup five times — three occasions as a player (with Selangor between 1995-97). His other triumph was when he was coaching Selangor in 2015.
A woeful back pass by Perak centre back Idris Ahmad, who was not under any pressure, was picked up by Terengganu captain Tchetche Kipre who then skipped over goalkeeper Hafizul Hakim.
Khairul Nizam Jothy just outside of the penalty box before slotting the ball into an empty net after just 46 seconds.
Terengganu dominated proceedings after that with J. Partiban, Kipre and Abdul Malik Mat Ariff coming close on several occasions.
In the 32nd minute, referee Suresh made a poor decision by awarding Perak a corner kick despite their striker, Luiz being the last player to touch the ball before it sailed out of play.
Dos Santos headed in the ball past Terengganu goalkeeper Suffian Rahman from the resulting corner kick but it was disallowed by the referee, who surprisingly took a few seconds before making the decision which surprised everyone.
Perak players protested but Suresh stood his ground that Dos Santos had fouled the goalkeeper.
In the 42nd minute, Kipre added a second goal, his ninth in the competition, thanks to the uneven pitch as the ball bobbled with Perak goalkeeper Hafizul Hakim, who rushed off his line, completely missing it.
The Ivory Coast striker continued his run and picked up the loose ball and netted from close range.
In the second half, Perak immediately responded in the 46th minute through Firdaus Saiyadi from a Brendan Gan pass to beat Terengganu goalkeeper Suffian.
Three minutes later, Gilmar Filho thought he had scored the equaliser for Perak but he was adjudged to be offside.
But replays showed he was onside as a Terengganu player had deflected the ball before it fell onto the path of the Brazilian.
Things got disorientated in the 56th minute when players from both teams were involved in an altercation following a high challenge by Perak’s Firdaus on Terengganu defender Zonjic.
And as a result, Perak’s Gilmar was sent off for throwing a punch at Zonjic.
Gilmar protested and had refused to leave the pitch before he was coaxed to do so.
Ten minutes later, Terengganu Lee Tuck was received his marching orders for a second yellow card.
Perak continued to push forward patiently and the seven-time champions were rewarded when Brendan drove the ball past Terengganu keeper Suffian after picking up a poor clearance in the first minute of stoppage time to force extra-time.
Terengganu took only six minutes into extra-time to take the lead through Faiz Nasir who outwitted a Perak defender before curling his powerful shot past goalkeeper Hafizul Hakim.
Perak, however, did not give up and they subsequently equalised when Terengganu’s Zonjic deflected a cross into the back of his own net in the final minute of extra-time to force a penalty shootout.