Defending Liga Super Malaysia champions Johor Darul Ta’zim were made to work hard for their Matchweek 2 victory on Tuesday as they require a two-goal salvo in the closing ten minutes of the tie to see off newly promoted Penang FC 2-0. The Panthers, who made the long journey down South to the Sultan Ibrahim Stadium, put up a superb and spirited performance against a star-studded JDT side, however in the end the Southern Tigers’ quality shone through and the plucky underdogs were dispatched of.
Underneath the tutelage of Czech head coach Tomas Trucha, Penang deployed their best lineup, with promotion-winning trio Casagrande, Endrick, and Rafael Vitor present as well as on-loan Indonesian defender Ryuji Utomo. English-Malaysian goalkeeper Samuel Somerville started against his former club, while former Kedah Darul Aman man David Rowley, Penang’s match-winner in their Matchweek 1 triumph over Kuala Lumpur City, was also present.
JDT head coach Benjamin Mora also fielded his best lineup, with the likes of Mauricio, La’Vere Corbin-Ong, Natxo Insa, Afiq Fazail, Leandro Velazquez, Gonzalo Cabrera, and Safawi Rasid present.
Whilst the overwhelming favorites for this tie, JDT were made to be frustrated by some excellent Penang defending. The Panthers’ back-line, consisting of Rafael, Ryuji, Quentin Cheng Jiun Ho, and Azmeer Aris did an admirable job in protecting Somerville’s goal from the onslaughts brought on by Safawi, Leandro, Cabrera, and former Mitra Kukar and Kedah striker Fernando Rodriguez, brought in from JDT’s reserve team JDT II to fill in the spearhead role in Mora’s starting lineup.
As Penang kept on parking the bus in hopes of taking a valuable point off the defending champions, disaster struck for the Panthers in the 80th minute that undid all of their defensive hard work. Somerville had came out from his post to deny Cabrera from letting off a shot, however the Penang goalkeeper timed his challenge late and Cabrera fell inside the penalty area, prompting the referee to award JDT the spot kick.
Leandro made no mistake from 12 yards out and his well-timed shot managed to beat Somerville, who, despite diving towards the right direction, was unable to stop the Argentine’s penalty from breaching his goal.
Fernando then doubled JDT’s lead and sealed the win for the Southern Tigers with a scrappy finish from close-range in the 85th minute.
Despite leaving the Sultan Ibrahim Stadium empty-handed, Trucha and his Penang men will be pleased that they’ve managed to take the game to the defending champions and prove that they are able to go toe-to-toe with Malaysia’s finest even though Penang had just been promoted to the top flight the previous year.
Tuesday’s other Matchweek 2 action saw Kedah working out a routine 2-0 win over Sabah FC at the Darul Aman Stadium, while Selangor FC were stunned 3-1 by Terengganu FC at the Sultan Mizan Zainal Abidin Stadium.
The second matchweek of the Liga Super continues on Wednesday with Sri Pahang FC taking on Perak FC at the Darul Makmur Stadium, Petaling Jaya City squaring off against Melaka United at the Petaling Jaya Stadium, and Kuala Lumpur hosting UiTM FC at the KLFA Stadium in Cheras.