Defending Liga Super Malaysia champions Johor Darul Ta’zim were given an almighty scare by Kuala Lumpur City as the two teams play out a 1-1 draw to open Matchweek 11 on Friday. A Romel Morales goal in stoppage time seems to have set Kuala Lumpur on course for a shock victory at the KLFA Stadium, however Hariss Harun came to the Southern Tigers’ rescue and managed to salvage a point for his team with his second half equalizer.
Having saw their 21-match unbeaten run in the Liga Super coming into a crashing halt thanks to a 1-0 home defeat at the hands of Terengganu FC on Matchweek 10, JDT came to the capital determined to set things straight as they seek to increase their stranglehold on the Liga Super summit. However, Benjamin Mora’s charges were instead hit with a major setback right at the end of the first half after Fakhrul Aiman managed to intercept a JDT clearance and sent a pinpoint header to Romel, who managed to evade Adam Nor Azlin. With a clear run towards the goal, Romel rifles in a shot that went through the legs of JDT goalkeeper Farizal Marlias and into the net, giving Kuala Lumpur the all-important lead just as the first half comes to a close.
JDT’s blushes were spared in the 55th minute after captain Hariss lashed a towering header from Nazmi Faiz’s corner into Kevin Ray Mendoza’s goal, thus restoring parity. The goal was Hariss’ first JDT goal of the season and his first JDT goal since May 12th 2019, when he scored in JDT’s 2-0 home win over Pahang FA in that year’s Liga Super campaign.
No further goals were scored afterwards and the two teams were forced to share the spoils with the 1-1 draw. The single point meant that JDT will spend another week top of the Liga Super table, while Kuala Lumpur remain in 7th.
Friday’s other Matchweek 11 game saw Kedah Darul Aman moving up to 2nd place thanks to their 3-1 win away at Melaka United.
Matchweek 11 continues on Saturday with Terengganu attempting to wrestle that runners-up spot away from Kedah as they host dark horses Penang FC, while the league’s bottom two sides go head-to-head as Sri Pahang FC host UiTM FC at the Darul Makmur Stadium.