KUALA LUMPUR: Kedah lifted the Sultan Ahmad Shah Charity Cup with a 5-4 penalty shootout win over Johor Darul Ta'zim at the Larkin Stadium in Johor Baru tonight.
The match, which also doubled up as both teams' Super League opener, ended 1-1 at full-time before heading straight to penalties.
Darul Ta'zim's new signing Bryan Ferreira was the only player who failed to convert his spot-kick when his attempt was saved by Kedah goalkeeper Hadi Hamid.
Liridon Krasniqi converted the winning penalty for Malaysia Cup holders Kedah, whose Charity Cup success was their first since 1994, while ending Darul Ta'zim's bid for a third consecutive win in the season-opening fixture.
The draw should not concern Benjamin Mora's Darul Ta'zim too much as they made a similar start last season against Selangor before finishing top of the league table with an unbeaten record.
Darul Ta'zim played the entire second half a man down after S. Kunanlan was sent off in first-half stoppage time, with a Safiq Rahim penalty giving the hosts the lead before Baddrol Bakhtiar equalised in the second half.
In Premier League action, Negri Sembilan served notice of their credentials as title challengers with a 3-0 win over Sabah at Paroi thanks to Bruno Castenheira's hat-trick.
Kuala Lumpur came back from conceding an early goal to beat Johor 2-1 in Selayang through strikes by Boburjon Akbarov in the 20th minute and Ibrahim Syaihul 11 minutes later after Nicolas Fernandez had given the visitors a fourth-minute lead.
Heavy rain forced the abandonment of two matches, with the Terengganu v Perak SEDC and Kuantan v Universiti Teknologi Mara fixtures postponed to another date.