Perak missed out on the chance to close the gap to league leaders Johor Darul Ta'zim after a dismal 1-1 draw away to Selangor at KLFA Stadium on Tuesday night. The result leave The Bos Gaurus on 28 points, 10 behind JDT who have a match in hand.
Mehmet Durakovic who was without the suspended duo of Gilmar Filho and Leandro dos Santos for the match, needed the help of The Red Giants to open the scoring. Alfonso de la Cruz turning in Nor Hakim Hassan's cross in the 42nd minute of the match to give Perak the lead at half time.
However the visitors were unable to hold out their lead and finally succumbed to an Amri Yahyah equaliser in the 81st minute. The veteran forward's free kick evaded every player and went straight into the net to give Selangor a valuable point, tying them with Kuala Lumpur in the league table.
Over at Sultan Muhammad IV Stadium in Kota Bahru, Kelantan are in further trouble after suffering a 0-2 loss to PKNS FC. After two home matches that had to be played away, The Red Warriors' return to their own fort did not bring the required luck.
Bruno Mastos was the toast of The Red Ants after he grabbed a brace, one in each half. A thunderous 4th minute effort put the visitors ahead and all three points was sealed in the 86th minute when Mastos latched onto Faris Ramli's pass to score PKNS's second of the game.
Fellow relegation strugglers Negeri Sembilan also suffered a defeat at home, losing 1-3 to Pahang at Tuanku Abdul Rahman Stadium. Dollah Salleh's boys were in their element right from the start as they gained an early lead through Issey Nakajima's unstoppable strike from the edge of the box in the 7th minute.
The Canadian did missed one penalty in the first half but bounced back from the disappointment to add another goal in the 65th minute. Norhsharul Idlan Talaha scored his first league goal of the season in the 71st minute to give the visitors a comfortable 0-3 lead.
Fauzan Dzulkifli's header in the 83rd minute was nothing more than a consolation goal for the home side who have only six more matches to save themselves from dropping back to the Premier League.
In Ipoh, Melaka United continued their stirring recovery as they come from behind to defeat host PKNP FC. Shahrel Fikri scored the opener for PKNP, benefiting from Hafiz Ramdan's cross in the 56th minute.
But E. Elavarasan's side were not to be denied as they stormed back into the match through Lee Chang-hoon's long range strike in the 65th minute before Ifedayo Omosuyi headed in an injury time winner for the visitors.