Veteran Amri helps Rhinos beat Melaka United

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Veteran forward Amri Yahya rolls back the years with two goals and an assist in Sabah FC’s 3-1 Super League over Melaka United FC at the Likas Stadium on Wednesday. – Photo from Sabah FC Facebook

KOTA KINABALU: Amri Yahya rolled back the years as the veteran forward fired a couple of superb goals to lead Sabah FC to a 3-1 Super League win over Melaka United FC (MUFC) at the Likas Stadium on Wednesday.

The 40-year-old former international has now scored four goals in the last three matches and helped the Rhinos extend their unbeaten run to five games.

Midfielder Azzizan Nordin also netted an outstanding goal for Sabah FC with Mohd Fakhrullah Rosli’s late goal proved to be mere consolation for the visiting side.

However, Amri was undoubtedly the star performer among his equally impressive teammates.

“I know Amri is a very experienced player. Although he is 40 years of age, he is very efficient and effective in how best to use his energy.

“I’m not saying the team is solely counting on him (to deliver the goals) because I have full confidence in each of the players in the team but Amri is a player with the ability to influence the game.

“Always before a game, I tell Amri to give his best or 100 per cent if possible…it doesn’t matter if it 30 minutes or 20 minutes (he is on the field).

“For us it is adequate because we can’t expect him to always play 90 minutes…it could put him under unnecessary pressure.

“Furthermore we have to consider his age…so, if it’s only 40 minutes, we expect him to give his maximum best.

“There are many more games left to play including against Kedah (Darul Aman FC) in our next fixture…we have only two days to recover and that is why we need to manage not only Amri but the other players carefully,” said head coach Kurniawan Dwi Yulianto after the match.

Amri opened the scoring in the sixth minute when he expertly headed home from tight angle following a corner kick by the lively Saddil Ramdani.

The Rhinos’ aggressive displays from the kick-off were further rewarded in the 16th minute and Amri made the assist with a neat pass to Azzizan, who turned a defender inside-out before curling home from the edge of the box.

There was no stopping Sabah from then on as Amri stunned the visitors shortly after the second half started.

Amri’s acrobatic effort from a Park Tae Su’s lobbed pass sailed into the back of the net beating the off-position MUFC goalkeeper Norazlan Razali.

MUFC tried to fight back but Fakhrullah’s 65th goal after a rare mistake by goalkeeper Robson Rendy Rining was all that they could achieve.

“We are glad to have collected the three points but there are certainly rooms for improvement.

“Our game plan was to attack from the kick-off and be aggressive in search of the early goals…we did just that.

“However, the team seemed to relax towards the end of the match that resulted in the goal and this is among the areas that we need to improve.

“We will continue to work hard in training and be prepare for our next game against Kedah on Saturday (May 8) at the Likas Staium,” added Kurniawan, who went on to dedicate the win to Sabah’s Liberian import Sam Johnson who played despite still grieving the demise of his sister.

With the win, the Rhinos moved to seventh in the 12-team league, collecting 16 points from four wins, four draws and four losses.

Johor Darul Ta’zim (JDT) remain top on 27 points followed by Terengganu FC on 24 points and Kedah DA FC with 23 points.