Johor Darul Ta’zim’s quest for a tenth consecutive Liga Super Malaysia began in the best way possible after the Southern Tigers won the 2023 Piala Sumbangsih, the annual curtain-raiser of the Malaysian football season that was also the opening match for the 2023 Liga Super Malaysia season on Friday. Last season’s treble winners JDT easily went past last season’s league runners-up Terengganu FC, beating the Turtles 2-0 at the Sultan Ibrahim Stadium.
With Indonesia international defender Jordi Amat acting as JDT’s captain for the night, the Southern Tigers went off on a flyer after new signing Juan Muniz made it 1-0 after five minutes, before regular goal-scoring predator Bergson doubled JDT’s lead in the 57th minute.
Another Southeast Asian naturalized talent in Oscar Arribas made an impressive performance from left-back, with the Filipino debutant deputizing La’Vere Corbin-Ong perfectly against a Terengganu attack spearheaded by Sony Norde and Adisak Kraisorn.
The win meant that JDT has equaled Selangor FC’s eight Piala Sumbangsih titles, as well as starting off their league campaign with all three points.
“It was a tough game, but we managed to score an early goal for an advantage,” said JDT head coach Esteban Solari, as quoted from New Strait Times, “Terengganu are a good team, and they created many chances. However, we controlled the game and showed good combination in the match. It is not easy to win and control a game. We also defended well. Everyone was brilliant. The team are going in the right direction and I am very happy.”