Shopee Cup: Gabriel Peres cited the dramatic resurgence of Kuching City

KUCHING, 7 Oct: Kuching City FC defender Gabriel Peres emerged as the team's hero after scoring two goals at the end of the match to help Aidil Sharin Sahak's control squad tie Tampines Rovers FC 2-2 in the opening action of Group A Shopee Cup 2026/27 at Taha Ariffin Stadium, Petra Jaya, tonight.

Tampines Rovers first opened the net in the 13th minute via Yoshitaka Furusawa, thus putting initial pressure on the hosts.

Kuching City, however, dominated the first half by mastering the game and creating several chances, but failed to use it to penetrate the Singapore team's stronghold of defence which was tightly guarded by Nazri Nasir.

Entering the second half, Kuching City continued their offensive pace by continuing to beat Tampines Rovers in an attempt to score a goal.

However, the hosts' efforts to break the deadlock faced difficulties as Tampines Rovers defence remained disciplined.

In the 71st minute, Nazri Nasir was handed a yellow card by referee Al Yaqoubi Omar Mubarak after expressing dissatisfaction with the referee's decision.

Kuching City's resurgence finally came in the 86th minute when Gabriel Peres exploded a match goal through a penalty kick that failed to save Tampines Rovers goalkeeper.

However, the joy of the hosts lasted only a moment as Tampines Rovers returned to the front two minutes later with Kohya Kazama's goal in the 88th minute to defeat Haziq Nadzli.

As the match seemed to favor the visiting team, Gabriel once again emerged as a savior when he scored his second goal in extra time to ensure Kuching City's second bounce and tie the score 2-2.

The result saw Kuching City and Tampines Rovers share a single point in their respective campaign opener action in Group A.