KUALA LUMPUR: Felda United were left searching for their first win in the AFC Cup group stage after a 0-0 draw with Ceres Negros in Bacolod City, the Philippines on Wednesday.
The struggling Malaysian Super League club picked up their second consecutive point from three matches but remain rooted to the bottom of Group G at the halfway stage.
Ceres joined Vietnam’s Hanoi T&T at the top of the standings on five points each with Singapore’s Tampines Rovers, who were beaten 4-0 away by Hanoi, third with three points.
Felda squandered a chance to claim all three points when Argentine Lucas Cano had a penalty saved in the second half on the hour-mark. Cano scuffed his effort from the spot which allowed goalkeeper Roland Muller to easily push the ball away.
The penalty had been awarded after a dazzling piece of individual artistry by Norshahrul Idlan Talaha, who slalomed his way past four Ceres players before being upended in the box at the end of a Felda breakaway.
Cano had a great chance to redeem himself seven minutes from time but ballooned his shot with just Muller to beat after Zah Rahan Krangar’s cut-back found him alone in the centre of the box.
In a rescheduled Premier League match, the Malaysian Indians (MISC-MIFA) downed Sabah 3-1 at the Petaling Jaya Stadium to move out of the relegation zone.
Bodric Dimitri scored twice in the first half, either side of a Michael Chukwubunna goal, to build a 3-0 half-time lead for the MISC-MIFA before Sofiane Choubani reduced the arrears for Sabah with a penalty early in the second half.
The result saw the MISC-MIFA move up a spot to 10th in the standings with six points after registering their second win with Sabah dropping to 11th on four points, just two points more than bottom-placed Perlis after eight matches.