Mid-Season Report: USM FC

It took seven matches, but USM finally got what their performances deserved. The 8-0 win over Wipers on 21st June was comprehensive, controlled, and a long way from the university side that conceded nine to JDT on the opening day of the season.

Mohd Yuzmuhaimizee Yaacob's side have grown into the competition in ways the results table does not fully capture.

The early circuits were brutal. A 9-1 defeat to JDT on matchday one was followed by a 5-4 loss to Terengganu, a match USM led, that set up the season's recurring theme: a side competitive enough to make life difficult but unable to hold results when the pressure came. Defeats to ATM, Selangor and Pahang in the middle circuits maintained that narrative, but each one was a little closer than the last.

The 3-2 loss to KL City in Circuit 4 matchday one was the most encouraging performance in defeat. USM had two late penalty opportunities to equalise and came agonisingly close. Twenty-four hours later, Putera Adam Fahrin scored twice, Danial Zhafirul added two more, and Izzat Aqiyudin, Aiman Naimi and Ahmad Muazzim all contributed to the 8-0 win that at last gave Mohd Yuzmuhaimizee's side the reward their effort had been building towards.

Izzat Aqiyudin took the MVP award for the Wipers win and has been USM's most consistent scorer across the campaign with four goals. Three points from seven matches leaves USM in eighth place, but the progression in performance across the season is real. Five circuits remain and a first result against one of the top three sides would represent a genuine landmark for a club still in its first season at this level.