Match Report: KL City 3-5 Terengganu

Terengganu withstood a spirited second-half fightback from KL City to win a chaotic play-off tie 5-3 in Kuantan, a result built on a first-half hat-trick from Alif Mat Amin that ultimately proved decisive. Terengganu advance to a semi-final against Selangor; KL City's season ends here.

Alif Mat Amin did the early damage almost single-handedly, scoring in the second, seventeenth and eighteenth minutes to put Terengganu 3-0 up at the break, a lead that reflected both his own outstanding form in front of goal this season and a first-half performance in which KL City never established any real foothold in the match. It was as one-sided a period as either side has produced in the play-offs so far, and by half-time the tie already looked to be heading in one direction.

KL City's response after the restart was considerably more encouraging than anything they had managed in the first twenty minutes. Muhamad Syahid Ajid Bin Zainal Abidin pulled one back in the twenty-seventh minute, and Daniel Almeida made it 3-2 barely a minute later, a rapid two-goal burst that briefly threatened to turn the tie on its head and gave the travelling side genuine hope of an unlikely turnaround. Terengganu, however, had an answer of their own: Syed Shahrul restored their two-goal cushion in the thirty-sixth minute, and although Syahid Ajid completed his own brace two minutes later to make it 4-3, Mohd Hafizi settled the match for good in the thirty-ninth, sealing a 5-3 win with a minute still to play.

The match was littered with cautions either side of the goals, Daniel Almeida and Dinesh Kumar both booked for KL City, and Alif Mat Amin shown a card of his own midway through his hat-trick, evidence of a tie that never settled into anything resembling a comfortable rhythm for either side. Alif Mat Amin's three goals, on a day his side needed every one of them, made him a deserving Player of the Match.

For Jerry Dinesh Pireira's KL City, a fightback that briefly threatened something remarkable ultimately fell short, a familiar pattern for a squad that has spent the season alternating between its stronger and weaker versions. For Terengganu, the win sets up a considerably sterner test: a semi-final against a Selangor side that has not lost, or even drawn, all season.

MVP - Alif Mat Amin (Terengganu)