KUALA LUMPUR: Johor Darul Ta’zim striker Bergson da Silva etched his name into Malaysian football history with a hat-trick in an 8-0 rout of Sabah in the Super League at the Sultan Ibrahim Stadium on Sunday.
The Brazilian broke Indra Putra Mahyuddin’s long-standing Super League scoring record of 106 goals when he converted a 61st-minute penalty.
He struck again in the 74th minute before completing his treble in stoppage time to take his tally to 108 Super League goals.
JDT had already blown Sabah away before Da Silva’s milestone moment. Oscar Arribas fired them ahead in the sixth minute before Joao Figueiredo netted in the 11th and 23rd.
Raul Parra added the fourth just before the break, and Figueiredo completed his hat-trick in first-half stoppage time to make it 5-0 at the interval.
Sabah never looked like getting back into it as the champions pressed high, moved the ball at speed and carved their opponents open almost at will.
In Sarawak, Ramadhan Saifullah’s clever 68th-minute free kick gave Kuching City a 1-0 win over Selangor at the State Stadium.
The match turned just before half-time when Danial Amier’s tackle from behind on Alvin Fortes was upgraded from yellow to red after a VAR check, leaving Selangor to play the entire second half with 10 players.
JDT’s crushing victory keeps them 18 points clear at the top, with Da Silva’s record-breaking night another golden chapter in the club’s era of dominance.
Kuching City climbed to fourth on seven points, Selangor slipped to fifth with six, while Sabah dropped to 10th with three.
© New Straits Times Press (M) Bhd
