Kuala Lumpur secured a narrow 1-0 victory over Perak in the first leg of their FA Cup round of 16 tie on Wednesday, but coach Dollah Salleh expressed dissatisfaction with his team’s overall performance. The match took place at Manjung Stadium in Perak and marked Kuala Lumpur’s second consecutive win following a challenging start to the season, having lost their first two matches.

Despite the result, Dollah Salleh was critical of his squad’s display, noting a lack of attacking sharpness. The game remained evenly contested until the 60th minute when Perak was reduced to 10 players after Firdaus Fuad was dismissed with a red card. Even with a numerical disadvantage, Perak continued to show resilience and maintained defensive organisation towards the end of the match.

The decisive moment came late in the game when Kuala Lumpur were awarded a penalty in the 86th minute. National team captain Paulo Josue calmly converted from the spot to secure the win for the visitors. However, Dollah remained concerned about his team’s inability to generate significant chances during open play prior to Perak’s dismissal.

“Our attack is still not sharp enough,” Dollah said. “Only after we had the one-man advantage did we actually start creating chances. Even with 10 men, they looked more organised than us. We need to make some changes before the next leg.”

The two sides will face off again in the second leg at Cheras Stadium next Wednesday as Kuala Lumpur seeks to build on their slim advantage and advance further in the competition.