Kuala Lumpur City FC put their financial woes aside to give their fans something to cheer for as they eke out a narrow 1-0 win over Klang Valley Derby rivals Selangor FC in Sunday’s Liga Super Malaysia match at the KLFA Stadium.
Club captain Paulo Josue has recently revealed that he and his teammates were being unpaid up to seven months’ worth of wages by the Kuala Lumpur management, however with a crunch tie against their Klang Valley neighbors on the horizon, the Kuala Lumpur players decided to put the issue aside and prioritize their professionalism with a gritty performance that put them up to 4th in the Liga Super table and gave Selangor their first defeat in four games.
The KLFA Stadium was alive with Kuala Lumpur fans filling the stands – largely thanks to an online social media campaign spearheaded by longtime fan Nizam Archibald among others – but also with their Selangor counterparts flocking the opposite end, giving the latest edition of the Klang Valley Derby some spice.
The match itself was fiercely contested, with both Kuala Lumpur and Selangor evenly matched as they carve out plenty of chances after chances.
However, it was Kuala Lumpur who managed to nick what turned out to be the winning goal in the 63rd minute, with Bosnian winger Jovan Martika firing home past Samuel Somerville in the Selangor goal.
The City Boys then rallied together to defend resolutely against an onslaught of Selangor assaults that came afterwards, leading to some frustrated Selangor fans to accuse the Kuala Lumpur players of doing time-wasting to defend their lead.
Kuala Lumpur’s efforts were paid nicely in the end, however, as they managed to hold firm and claim all three points – the City Boys’ first win over Selangor at the KLFA Stadium in 26 years.
With some of the club’s upper brass in attendance during the match, it is hoped that this performance would motivate them to realize that they have a very valuable asset in their hands and they should commit to their responsibility of keeping said asset alive by sorting out the wages owed to their players.