Johor Darul Ta’zim avenged their 2021 Malaysia Cup defeat at the hands of Kuala Lumpur City by demolishing the same opponents 3-0 in Saturday’s 2022 Piala Sumbangsih at the Sultan Ibrahim Stadium. The Southern Tigers turned on on the style up to eleven as they gave the City Boys no chance in the match, proving that lightning does not indeed strike twice.
The build-up towards the curtain-raiser of the 2022 Malaysian football season saw JDT lynchpin Tunku Ismail Idris sensationally vowing to step down from his position within the club and retire from football altogether should JDT lose to Kuala Lumpur again in this year’s Piala Sumbangsih.
And apparently, Tunku Ismail’s brazen words had an effect on his players as they went all-out relentlessly against Kuala Lumpur come match day. Acting as hosts for this year’s Piala Sumbangsih, league winners JDT immediately pinned cup winners Kuala Lumpur into the cushion after kick-off, however it took them 26 minutes to open the scoring.
An excellent Arif Aiman cross was welcomed by a thundering header from Nazmi Faiz, which gave Kevin Ray Mendoza in the Kuala Lumpur goal absolutely no chance – 1-0 JDT.
Former Sheffield Wednesday and Udinese striker Fernando Forestieri then opened his JDT account only five minutes later, with the new signing rifling in a screamer beyond Mendoza’s reaches.
A rampant JDT then finished Kuala Lumpur off right at the end of the match thanks to a strike from substitute Afiq Fazail, who took full advantage of a mistake done by Kuala Lumpur defender Kamal Azizi.
The triumph meant that JDT have won their fifth straight Piala Sumbangsih title, having won every edition of the competition since 2018. The Southern Tigers are also well-equipped to take on the 2022 Liga Super Malaysia season, which will kick-off next month.