JOHOR BAHRU, March 17 – It was a night when Lady Luck chose to smile on Selangor FC and the Red Giants put a dent in Johor Darul Takzim’s pride with a 1-1 draw at the Sultan Ibrahim Stadium in Iskandar Puteri, Johor Bahru on Wednesday.
Selangor also became the first team to score against the Southern Tigers at the Sultan Ibrahim Stadium when Ifedayo Olusegun drilled past the onrushing Farizal Marlias after outwitting Corbin Ong on seven minutes.
JDT was quick to respond after conceding an early goal and made it 1-1 after 12 minutes when the new Brazilian signing Bengson Da Silva blasted home an assist from Gonzalo Cabrera. Many thought it was the beginning of JDT’s night of more goals to come.
Instead, it was the beginning of a nightmare for the Southern Tigers although the homesters were dominant.
JDT’s dominance resulted in winning two penalties, both via the 18-year-old Ariff Aiman who made his Super League debut and scored a goal in the 4-0 win over UiTM FC last week.
Ariff won his first penalty in the 41st minute when he was brought down inside the box by Selangor defender Ashmawi Yakin.
Cabrera took the spot-kick but the Argentine skied the ball much to the dismay of all and Selangor escaped falling behind.
In JDT coach Benjamin Mora’s own words missing the penalty was ”demoralising” in many ways when going into the dressing room for the break.
Ariff Aiman was a handful for the Selangor defenders and he earned another penalty for JDT in the 78th minute.
This time it was Bengson who took the spot-kick but the Brazilian muffed his spot-kick too with Selangor keeper Khairul Azhan Khalid making a brilliant save – diving to his left to keep the attempt out. Selangor celebrated while the Southern Tigers were crestfallen.
”The result does not leave me satisfied. It was a difficult first 30 minutes for us. Selangor gained confidence after getting an early goal. We played better in the second half…it was ours with good possession and opportunities,” said Mora.
The Mexican, however is not blaming any player.
”We gave Selangor breathing space when we could not ‘kill’ them,” the Mexican added.
Meanwhile, at the Darulaman Stadium in Alor Setar, Kedah came back from a goal down to beat Petaling Jaya City FC 3-1 while Terengganu shared the spoils with a 1-1 draw at the Sultan Mizan Stadium in Kuala Lumpur.
Kuala Lumpur City FC whipped Perak 3-0 at the Cheras Stadium to move into third place on seven points. JDT tops the table with 10 points – ahead of Terengganu on goal difference. Kedah also has seven points but is in fourth place due to the goal difference.
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