LIONSXII and Johor FC defended their respective performances in a listless 0-0 draw which elicited boos from the Jalan Besar Stadium on Friday as both teams advanced to the Malaysia Cup quarter-finals at Johor's expense.
Knowing they only needed a draw, both teams were happy to play for that with neither side making much of an effort to score.
That meant Johor's 2-1 win over PKNS at Larkin was in vain as the side managed by Singapore legend Fandi Ahmad finished one point behind the top-two in Group A.
Social media was awash with Singapore fans calling for LionsXII coach v. Sundramoorthy's head and the appointment of Fandi instead.
"As the coach, I feel I have to say something to the fans," Sundramoorthy told Singapore's Today newspaper after the match.
"Now the boys will be fresher (for the quarter-finals), we have about seven days to the next game (against Pahang on Friday) and I urge them to come back and support us because you can see after 60 minutes, the boys were too tired.
"The first half was exciting, the boys went out there and created chances but as the game progressed in the second half, I felt they were fatigued, they were having too many games. They slowed down the tempo, and that was the summary of the game."
Johor FC team manager Wan Nizam Wan Omar blamed injuries to key players Arthuro Bernhardt, Riduwan Ma'on and Khairul Ismail for his side's poor performance.
"We knew before the start we had to be cautious because of injuries. In the first half two of our players picked up serious injuries, and we had one more at the start of the second half."
Johor FC will play Selangor in the quarter-finals. By Devinder Singh
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