KUALA LUMPUR: Kedah advanced to their first FA Cup final in seven years after completing a 4-0 aggregate win by beating Premier League side Terengganu 3-0 in the semi-final return leg in Kuala Terengganu on Saturday.
Goals by Liridon Krasniqi, Ken Ilso and Sandron Mendonca fired Kedah into the May 20 final in Shah Alam, where they will face Pahang in a bid to win the FA Cup for a fourth time.
Both sides made a number of changes from their last outing with Shukur Jusoh, Ferris Danial Mat Nasir, Faiz Nasir and Hafizal Mohamad coming in for Terengganu while Baddrol Bakhtiar, Syazwan Zainon and Fitri Omar were restored to the Kedah starting line up as Krasniqi and Rizal Ghazali returned from suspension.
There was an emotional moment before kick-off when, during the pre-game singing of anthems, Terengganu players wore T-shirts with the words "Sharbinee get well soon" in tribute to cancer-stricken goalkeeper Sharbinee Allawee Ramli.
Kedah, however, stunned the home crowd into silence in the fifth minute when Krasniqi tapped the ball in after it came off the post from a shot by Syazwan, who had followed up an earlier effort by Krasniqi which had been blocked by goalkeeper Amierul Hakimi Awang.
Danish striker Ilso tightened Kedah's grip on the tie by making it 2-0 on the night and 3-0 on aggregate in the 29th minute after being gifted possession by Shukur and drilling past Amierul from the top of the box.
Barely two minutes of the second half had lapsed when Mendonca scored Kedah's third goal after rounding Amierul following an exchange of passes with Ilso.