Written by: Phoon Jia Hui

A brace from Paulo Rangel helped Selangor Selection edge Singapore Selection 2-1 and retain the Sultan of Selangor’s Cup for the third year running in front of a capacity crowd of 80,000 at the Shah Alam Stadium on Saturday night.

Paulo Rangel’s successful penalty conversion on the stroke of half-time was cancelled out by a superb strike from substitute Leonel Felice on 68 minutes.

However, Rangel had other ideas and he struck again ten minutes from time to break the hearts of the Singapore Selection who finished the match with ten men after Hafiz Sujad was dismissed for a second bookable offence moments after the opener.

Rangel had the first chance of the game on 14 minutes when he got onto the end of a S. Kunalan cutback but drilled a low shot wide.

The Brazilian then sent a header just wide just before the half-hour mark before Wahyudi Wahid had to make a last-ditch challenge to block a shot from Ahmad Hazwan minutes later.

Just as the two teams were heading into the break goalless, a push on Rangel by Ridhuan Muhammad resulted in a penalty being awarded by the referee and Rangel sent his spot kick into Fadhil’s bottom right for the lead.

Mehmet Durakovic’s side continued from where they left off in the second-half and Rangel nearly added his second in the 47th minute but saw his shot fly inches wide.

Singapore Selection then conjured their first chance of the game two minutes later after a through pass found the feet of Felice but he could only fire straight at Farizal Marlias instead.

Making amends for his earlier miss, Felice then found the net with a well-struck free kick from the edge of the area.

After he was fouled by Stilianos Pantelidis, the Geylang International forward went on to hit an unstoppable shot into the top corner and past a hapless Farizal for 1-1.

Singapore Selection goalkeeper Fadhil Salim kept his side in the game when he flew across to keep out a goalbound free kick from Rangel in the 76th minute.

However, there was nothing the Hougang United custodian could do to prevent Rangel from netting the winner four minutes later.

While Fadhil managed to save the Brazilian’s initial shot, he was helpless to keep out the rebound from Rangel, who tapped home from close range to send the Selangor faithful into delirium.

Try as they might, but Amin Nasir’s just could not find a way past a determined Selangor defence who stood firm and hung on for the victory.

Meanwhile, in the curtain-raiser match between the Selangor Veterans and Singapore Veterans, it ended 1-all in a match which either side could have easily won with chances aplenty throughout.

Played in two halves of 20 minutes each, the Singapore Veterans trailed after six minutes in despite enjoying a brighter start as Dato Soh Chin Aun punished some slack defending to fire past Shahri Rahim from inside the penalty area.

But the Singapore Veterans refused to be cowed and responded in the 20th minute through Steven Tan, who made no mistake from the spot after Fandi Ahmad was clattered by a defender in the 18 yard box to level matters.

Although the second-half saw no goals, it was end-to-end stuff with both teams coming close on several occasions. Shahrin Majid nearly stole a late winner two minutes from the end but Shahri was quick off his line to thwart the former and ensure that the spoils were shared.