Two-time defending champions Pahang showed why they are favourites to retain the Malaysia Cup with an impressive 4-1 victory over the LionsXII in their quarterfinal first leg on Tuesday night.
Fandi Ahmad's return to the Darul Makmur Stadium, where he plied his trade for two seasons during his playing days, ended in misery after goals from Hafiz Kamal, Matias Conti, R. Gopinathan and Dickson Nwakaeme put the holders in pole position for a spot in the last four. Safuwan Baharudin did grab a late consolation goal to give LionsXII a glimmer of hope ahead of Saturday's return leg in Singapore.
It took just seven minutes for Pahang to unlock the visitors' defence. A wicked free-kick from Hafiz missed the head of Faritz Hameed, catching Izwan Mahbud off guard. The Singapore custodian could only deflect the ball into his own net as alarm bells began to ring for the visitors.
Dickson and Madhu Mohana continued where they left off in their two previous league meetings. The Nigerian striker almost won his side two penalties after tackles from the LionsXII centre-back.
With an impressive Zesh Rehman sitting in front of the Pahang backline, LionsXII hardly got a sniff. Full-back Faritz looked the most industrious down the right wing but with no end product.
Things got messy in the 27th minute when Pahang's Aziz Ismail swung a blatant right elbow into the face of LionsXII's Nazrul Nazari, only for referee Nafeez Wahab to produce a soft yellow that was strongly protested by the LionsXII bench.
Tempers continued to fray for the rest of the half, with Hafiz Sujad next into the referee's book for scything down Dickson who was through on goal.
Seven minutes before the break, Dickson's majestic ball over the top put Azamuddin Akil through on goal but Izwan managed to snuff out the danger.
And the Nigerian hitman who should have scored on the next attack. But after twisting and turning his way in the box, he directed his shot straight into the Kuantan skyline.
His strike partner Matias Conti had a glorious opportunity in the 52nd minute but his powerful header was tipped over by an alert Izwan.
Less than a minute later, the Argentine marksman made amends for when he made it 2-0 after Azamuddin's mazy run saw the winger cut a delightful ball back into the box. Centre-back Shakiz Hamzah lost his footing and allowed Conti all the time in the world to place a left-footed shot past Izwan.
The partisan crowd went into celebratory mood on 59 minutes when Dickson finally grabbed a well-deserved goal.
After a good cross, Conti's light touch set up the giant Nigerian who angled a lovely shot to make it three on the night.
LionsXII were exposed again when Azamuddin outmuscled three defenders in the 65thminute, only for substitute R. Gopinathan to cannon his header back off the bar.
The flying winger was not to be denied a minute later, when the same combination saw Azamuddin put him through on a one-on-one situation and he slashed the ball past Izwan with aplomb.
It was left to Safuwan to score in the dying seconds to make it 4-1, giving Fandi's charges a glimmer of hope. Their last match at Jalan Besar Stadium ended in a 4-2 win for LionsXII.
Pahang continued to pour forward in search of more goals to kill off the tie, but the likes of Gopinathan and Conti wasted the chances that came their way, with the LionsXII looking well beaten.
Strangely though, this is only the fifth time that Conti and Dickson have scored in the same match this season. This is also the Tok Gajahs' seventh match this season where they scored more than four goals.
LionsXII will need to put on a fight of the century in the the return leg that will take place on Saturday at Jalan Besar Stadium, where Pahang have won twice and lost four. Winners of this tie will go on to face either Sarawak or Selangor in the semifinals.