Johor Darul Ta’zim’s campaign (JDT) at the AFC Cup has come to an end after the dramatic ASEAN Zonal semi-finals against Philippines’ Ceres-Negros on Wednesday.
JDT started the game brightly with the slight advantage of winning 3-2 on the first leg. However, their superiority faded as Ceres took a first-half lead through Kota Kawase in the 25th minute.
JDT’s equalizer came from Gabriel Guerra when he latched on to Gonzalo Cabrera’s through ball in the 65th minute.
Ceres barely troubled the JDT goal until stoppage time, but things took a turn in stoppage time after the referee decided that JDT’s Aidil had committed a foul inside the penalty box and Ceres were awarded a penalty.
Fernando Rodriguez calmly put away the spot kick to give Ceres a win.
At the end of the game, JDT goalkeeper Farizal Marlias saw red when he continued to disagree with the referees’ decisions.
JDT and Ceres drew 4-4 on aggregate but the Filipino side progressed to the next round on the away goal rule thanks to their two goals at Larkin Stadium a fortnight ago.