PETALING JAYA, July 29 – Johor Darul Takzim (JDT) tightened their grip at the top with a 3-1 win over Selangor FC at the Petaling Jaya Stadium on Wednesday on a night when second-placed Terengganu was embarrassed 2-0 by Melaka United at the Hang Jebat Sadium.
The defeat of the Turtles came in the wake of their 5-0 win over Perak FC at home over the weekend. The East Coast hopefuls remained second in the league with 30 points from 15 matches – six ahead of third placed Kedah on 26 points with two games in hand.
The Southern Tigers topped the league standings with 36 points and their convincing win over Selangor are strong signals that the league title is within grasp for a record eighth successive season.
Brazilian hitman Bergson da Silva hammered his 13th goal for the Southern Tigers – one behind Selangor’s Nigerian striker Ifedayo Olusegun who scored his team’s consolation goal on Wednesday.
Bergson struck in added time before the halftime break and Olusegun scored for the Red Giants on 62 minutes. JDT, however, was never in danger of losing points when international Matthew Davies added the second in the 79th minute.
Naturalised Malaysian international Mohamadou Sumareh hammered the final nail into the Selangor coffin when he found the net for JDT’s third goal deep into injury.
Melaka United scored a goal in each half through Haitian striker Sony Norde and new Brazilian signing Adriano Narcizo in the 36th and 77th minutes respectively for the shock win over Terengganu.
At the Likas Stadium in Kota Kinabalu, two goals in injury time saw Sabah FC share points with Sri Pahang.
Sabah’s Croatian striker Josip Ivancic scored a brace for with his second coming just before the final whistle after Pahang looked like taking all three points when Abdul Malik scored in the 93rd minute.
Ivancic had opened scoring for Sabah after 58 minutes but Pahang wiped out the deficit through Baqiuddin Shamsudin 10 minutes. Added time provided all the drama with two late goals and share of points.
Penang is fourth in the league standings with 25 points from 14 matches after a 1-0 win over UiTM FC at the UiTM Stadium in Shah Alam. Sheriddin Boboev got Penang’s winner in the 81st minute.
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