Perak FC gave defending Liga Super Malaysia champions Johor Darul Ta’zim an almighty scare in their Matchweek 5 encounter at the Perak Stadium on Sunday. The Bos Gaurus almost pulled off a stunning win over the Southern Tigers as they went 2-0 up, however a penalty from Leandro Velazquez deep into injury time pegged Perak back to square one as the two sides played out a 2-2 draw.
Guilherme de Paula, fresh from receiving a Malaysian citizenship, opened the scoring for the hosts in the 33rd minute. Receiving a cross from the right flank courtesy of Izzuddin Roslan, the Brazilian-born attacker managed to outsmart his markers and rifled in a shot that went past an onrushing Farizal Marlias and into the JDT goal, Guilherme’s first goal of the season.
JDT actually responded well to Perak taking the lead, with the Southern Tigers threatening the Bos Gaurus through Leandro, Bergson, and Arif Aiman, however Perak custodian Hafizul Hakim was on top form as he denied the away side their equalizer.
Guilherme then doubled his tally in the 58th minute. Once again it’s an excellent cross from a Perak teammate that started off the move, this time a long ball from the Perak half by Ezequiel Aguero. The ball went diagonally from the left flank to the right where it was received by Guilherme, who thundered his way into the JDT penalty area before blasting a powerful cannonball that left Farizal once again beaten. 2-0 Perak and the hosts seemed to have paved their way to a shock victory that not many would see coming.
However, JDT roared back into life after Guilherme’s brace and they soon showed their character and quality that made them worthy of their 7 consecutive Liga Super titles. In the 74th minute, substitute Akhyar Rashid, on for injured debutant Mohamadou Sumareh, managed to rifle in a close-ranged volley past Hafizul to reduce the deficit for JDT.
Perak’s hopes of pulling off an unlikely win over the defending champions went up in smoke in the fourth minute of injury time, after Rafiuddin Roddin was adjudged to have fouled Aidil Zafuan within the area. Despite his heroics throughout the match, Hafizul was unable to save Leandro’s penalty from breaching his defenses, bringing the scoreline back to level terms and allowing JDT to salvage a point from the Perak Stadium.
Sunday’s other Matchweek 5 results saw Terengganu FC relinquishing their unbeaten record as they were beaten 2-1 away at the Likas Stadium by Sabah FC, while Petaling Jaya City managed to eke out a 1-0 win over Sri Pahang FC at the Petaling Jaya Stadium.
The 2021 Liga Super season will take a 9-day break after Matchweek 5 to allow the Malaysia national team to conduct their training camp in preparation for the upcoming resumption of the 2022 FIFA World Cup/2023 AFC Asian Cup joint qualifiers.