Back off: JDT’s Arif Aiman Hanapi (right) vying for the ball with Pathum United’s Ryhan Stewart during the AFC Champions League Group I match. — Bernama
PETALING JAYA: A Bergson da Silva brace inspired Johor Darul Ta’zim (JDT) to a 4-1 comeback win over Thailand’s BG Pathum United in their final Group I match in the AFC Champions League.
It was a consolation victory though as the newly crowned Malaysia Cup champions could not emulate last year’s achievement of making it to the knockout stage of the Champions League.
The result meant that JDT ended their campaign third in the group with nine points from three wins while Pathum finished last with six defeats.
Kawasaki Frontale were held to a 2-2 draw by Ulsan Hyundai but the Japanese club still top the group with 16 points.
JDT suffered a setback just 18 minutes into the match when they were forced into a substitution after Oscar Arribas of Spain picked up a shoulder injury and with La’Vere Corbin-Ong not available, Akhyar Rashid was asked to fill in.
Sarach Yooyen had a chance to put Pathum ahead minutes later but while his free-kick had the right power, the curl was not enough as the ball went slightly wide of the post.
Pathum took advantage of JDT lacking a regular leftback when Santhipharp Channgom raced down that side of the pitch in the 28th minute and delivered a perfect cross into the box for Uzbek Igor Sergeev to divert past a stranded Ahmad Syihan Hazmi.
JDT struggled to create opportunities in the first half but they came back strong in the next 45 minutes.
The Southern Tigers started brightly when Brazilian Da Silva registered his first effort on target in the 49th minute but his header from a corner-kick looked to have been well saved by Chatchai Bootprom.
However, a penalty was awarded to JDT after a video assisted referee (VAR) check showed that the ball struck Brazilian Danilo Alves in the arm prior to Chatchai’s save, with the player subsequently shown his second yellow.
Bergson stepped up to score from the spot-kick and it was a one-way traffic after that.
JDT took the lead in the 66th minute when Bergson’s shot from just inside the box found the bottom corner.
JDT sealed the win when Arif Aiman Hanapi set up Brazilian substitute Endrick dos Santos for a drilled finish in the 86th minute before the former capped a wonderful individual performance with a goal in stoppage time.
