KUALA LUMPUR: The Sabah football team are said to be facing salary issues, but these have not affected their performance in the AFC Cup.
On Thursday, they thrashed 10-man PSM Makassar 5-0 at the Kapten I Wayan Dipta Stadium in Bali.
Sabah scored through Darren Lok (sixth minute, 46th) Gabriel Peres (36th), Stuart Wilkin (73rd) and Farhan Roslan (injury time).
The Rhinos, who beat Singapore's Hougang United 3-1 two weeks ago, topped Group H with six points.
Makassar goalkeeper Reza Pratama was sent off in the 58th minute for a foul on Saddil Ramdani outside the penalty box.
Sabah coach Ong Kim Swee said he was proud of his men's big win despite the team facing "external problem" (speculated to be salary issue).
"We followed our game plan to succeed. When PSM Makassar were down to 10 men, it made things easier.
"Although there are a couple of issues off field, we proved we have the mentality to gain full points," said Kim Swee.
However, he does not think Sabah are in a comfortable position yet as they still have four more AFC Cup group matches.