BY NIK AFIQ Follow on Twitter
Pahang head coach, Dollah Salleh expressed his disappointment towards the match officials after his team lost to Johor Darul Ta'zim (JDT) 3-2 at Larkin Stadium.
Pahang took the lead in the 14th minute, before Hazwan Bakri equalised when followed up with Safiq Rahim's blocked penalty kick. The home team went on to score two more goals after that before Matheu Alves pulled one back to make it 3-2.
However, according to Dollah, despite his team being the better team in the second half, he is still not happy with how the referees handled the game.
“I think we only started playing football only in the second half. We defended more and only waited for JDT to come and attack us in the first half. However, things changed in the second half. We started to attack them more but we were unfortunate not to convert our chances. But overall, I’m not happy with the referees. I think they are very poor with their decision making tonight," said Dollah.
With the win, JDT now closed the gap at the top to only two points, but Dollah said Pahang will challenge for the title all the way until the end.
“We know JDT are the best team in the country and I believe we will follow their footsteps and we will challenge them until the end of the season," added Dollah.
For Pahang’s skipper, Matthew Davies, they need to go back to the drawing board and work more on tactical and planning after a sloppy and disappointing game.
“I think we have to go back to the drawing board and work more on our tactical. Second half we were better than team, we throw everything we have at them and we were unlucky not to get the (equalising) goal. The way I see it, we were a bit sloppy and disappointing but at the same time I think second half, it was a pretty even game,” said Davies.
Pahang are still on top, with Kedah are yet to play their game, and JDT now only two points behind the Elephants, with one game in hand.