KUALA LUMPUR: Johor Darul Ta’zim (JDT) were forced to dig deep before overcoming Negri Sembilan 5-3 in a Super League match at the Sultan Ibrahim Stadium on Tuesday.
The pulsating match saw the Deer take a shock two-goal lead through Joseph Esso in the eighth minute and Jovan Motika in the 15th.
A stunned JDT then brought in midfielders Arif Aiman Hanapi for Moussa Sidibe in the 29th and Afiq Fazail for Iker Undabarrena in the 33rd.
The move led to the Super League champions taking control of the match, and JDT soon pulled level through Jon Irazabal (38th) and Joao Figueiredo (41st).
In the second half, JDT raced ahead through two quick goals with Irazabal scoring again in the 57th and Arif Aiman scoring in the 58th to make it 4-2.
Despite the two-goal cushion, JDT continued pressing and this enabled Negri to close the gap when Motika scored his second goal from a fast break in the 60th.
JDT squandered a penalty in the 70th when Jairo Da Silva blazed his spotkick high, after Arif Aiman was felled inside the box by N. Javabilaarivin.
JDT brought in Bergson Da Silva for the misfiring Jairo and Heberty Fernandes for Hector Hevel in the 72nd minute.
But Negri goalkeeper Azri Ghani pulled off several spectacular saves before being beaten by Bergson’s bicycle kick two minutes into added time to make it 5-3.
At the MBPJ Stadium, Selangor beat Brunei’s DPMM 3-0 with goals from Kevin Deeromram (fifth and 36th minutes) and Chrigor Moraes (67th).
At the Sultan Muhammad IV Stadium, 10-man Immigration FC held Kelantan The Real Warriors (KTRW) 1-1.
Newcomers Immigration took the lead through Eduardo Sosa in the 46th minute before their player, Amirali Chegini, was shown a red card for a hand ball inside the box.
KTRW’s Ifedayo Olusegun made no mistake from the resulting spotkick in the 79th minute to salvage a point for the home side.
© New Straits Times Press (M) Bhd
