KUALA LUMPUR: Amid internal turmoil, Kedah FC proved their resilience by beating KL City 3-2 in the Malaysia Cup round of 16 first leg at Darul Aman Stadium on Friday.

The match was overshadowed by reports of salary problems, and key players such as goalkeeper Ifwat Akmal Chek Kassim, defender Rizal Ghazali and forward Syafiq Ahmad allegedly boycotting the game and were benched.

Captain Sony Norde scored a brace (27th and 30th minutes) and Sukhrob Nurulloev adding a third goal for Kedah in the 68th.

On target for KL City were Ryan Lambert who scored in the 13th and Jovan Motika in the 72nd.

At the MBPJ Stadium, Kelantan Darul Naim lost 3-0 to Perak who scored through Clayton Da Silva (22nd), Nur Azfar Fikri Azhar (80th) and Daniel Hakimi (penalty, 90th).