PETALING JAYA, May 9 – A dominant Johor Darul Takzim (JDT) romped to a 3-0 win over Penang FC at the City Stadium – sending clear signals to their rivals that they are on track for their eighth successive Super League title.
It was a miserable night for the Panthers at home with their ace in the pack Casagrande, who had a goal disallowed and was booked for questioning the referee’s decision, was sent off for an early shower with a second booking in the 88th minute for roughing up JDT’s Mauricio in an off the ball incident.
If that was not enough as chief coach Tomas Trucha too was red-carded for questioning the referee on the matter.
Putting that aside, JDT was in form and kept their rhythm in check – never looking back after national striker Safawi Rasid hammered the first goal past goalkeeper Bryan See after 15 minutes.
The Southern Tigers went into the break with a 2-0 lead when this season’s new Bergson da Silva kept his hot form – delivering his 11th goal from an assist by S. Kunanlan. The Brazilian is just one goal behind Selangor’s seasoned Ifedayo Olusegun.
Kedah’s Liberian hitman Kpah Sherman is hot on the heel with nine goals – with his latest coming in the 1-0 win over Sabah at the Likas Stadium in Kota Kinabalu.
The Liberian scored in the 79th minute in a rain-marred match that was delayed for nearly two hours.
JDT completed the scoring against Penang with naturalised Gambian-born Malaysian international Mohamodu Sumareh hitting target off a rebound from keeper Bryan See in the 51st minute.
With the win, JDT is on top with 30 points after 13 matches followed by Kedah on 26 points. Terengganu FC is third on 24 points from 12 matches and will play Selangor tonight at the Petaling Jaya Stadium. Penang is in fourth place with 22 points.
The league takes a nearly two-month break for international assignments with the Harimau Malaya completing their qualifying round Group G matches in the 2022 World Cup/2023 Asian Cup in the United Arab Emirates in June.
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