KUALA LUMPUR: Sri Pahang finally ended their winless streak in the Super League by edging Sabah 2-1 at the Darulmakmur Stadium in Kuantan tonight.
Ukrainian forward Yevhen Bokhashvili's 55th minute close-range strike and English midfielder Lee Tuck's header in the 70th minute earned the Elephants full points in a tightly contested match.
Indonesian winger Saddil Ramdani's 80th-minute header ended up being a mere consolation goal for the Rhinos who have yet to win a match this season.
Pahang had started their 2021 Super League campaign with defeats to Selangor (1-3) and Perak (0-2) and a draw with Melaka (0-0).
The string of poor results saw Thomas Dooley, the American coach of
the east coast side being "rested", and manager Dollah Salleh appointed as caretaker coach.
Former national coach Dollah made an instant impact from the sidelines as he guided the team to a much-needed win.
The hard-earned victory moved Pahang out of the relegation zone with four points to place ninth in the 12-team league while Sabah dropped a rung from 10th to 11th with only a point after four matches.
At the City Stadium, Premier League champions Penang were held to a drab goalless draw by UiTM.
Penang now have five points from four matches while UiTM remain rooted at the bottom of the table without a point after four matches.
RESULTS
Super League
Pahang 2 Sabah 1, Penang 0 UiTM 0
Premier League
FAM-NSC 1 Police 3, Kelantan Utd 0 JDT II 0, Sarawak Utd 2 Kuching 0, Terengganu II 0 Kelantan 0