TWO-TIME Golden Boot winner Ifedayo Olusegun, who joined Melaka United from Selangor this season, is finally showing signs of regaining his former self in the Super League.
The sight of Selangor provided the backdrop as striker Ifedayo put away two goals to lift Melaka to eighth in the standings, tied on points with the Red Giants after the 2-0 win at Hang Jebat Stadium on Tuesday.
Moving to a new club has not been all plain sailing for the Nigerian-born, with only two goals from the earlier nine matches for Melaka, both coming in the 3-2 away win over Kedah on May 6.
It was a grand return for Ifedayo from a supposed hamstring injury, which kept him out of his team's 1-1 draw against defending champions Johor Darul Ta'zim (JDT) on July 2.
There was an opportunistic effort that looked conspicuously offside in the 39th minute, turning home Sony Norde's cross before showing good pace in the 57th minute to run away from both Yazan Al-Arab and goalkeeper Samuel Somerville to settle the contest.
Caretaker coach Asri Ninggal praised his star striker, whose participation in the game was in doubt after succumbing to an injury prior to the JDT game.
"Initially, Ifedayo was not in our plans today (Tuesday). But because it is against his old team, he really wanted to play and showed during training that he was not troubled by the injury," said Asri.
"It proved to be a good decision with the two goals that he scored today."
The win continues the positive momentum that Melaka are on at the moment, having bounced back from a disappointing home defeat to Sarawak United to subsequently hold reigning champions JDT in the last two matches.
Matches have come thick and fast for them, with the Selangor clash being their fourth game in 17 days since the resumption of the Super League following a month-long international break, with Asri commending the desire shown by his players.
"Credit should be given to the players because we know that our last game was on July 2 against JDT, so we only had two days of rest and played Selangor today.
"With just two days of recovery, it was more about the attitude of the players, who showed throughout the 90 minutes that they wanted to play and win.
"It is important to keep the momentum going."
As for Selangor, the defeat marks a third consecutive disappointing result following the thrashing by JDT (5-1) on June 24 and the draw against Sabah (1-1) four days later.
Michael Feichtenbeiner felt his side was unjustly done by the match officials, especially with Ifedayo's first goal that looked like the striker had strayed into an offside position before receiving the pass from Norde.
"I feel we lost this match in the first half. We controlled the game with Melaka not having any clear chances. But two key moments turned the game around," explained Feichtenbeiner.
"From my point of view, it was a clear penalty on (Herlison) Caion, but the referee saw it differently. Also, the first goal from Ifedayo looked offside."
Feichtenbeiner will have very little time to mull over what is their third defeat of the season as they have a FA Cup second-round meeting against Kuala Lumpur City tomorrow.