PETALING JAYA: Defending champions Johor Darul Ta’zim (JDT) can forget about having an easy ride in the Super League this year.
The Southern Tigers, who lifted the Charity Shield game without playing following the withdrawal of Selangor two weeks ago, registered another win but this time, they had to huff and puff against plucky Negri Sembilan at the Sultan Ibrahim Stadium in Iskandar Puteri yesterday.
JDT eventually won 3-1.
JDT’s coach Hector Bidoglio admitted that the team had to dig deep to get goals and believed that would be the case the whole season.
“We are the protagonists. JDT always have the ball when they play at the Sultan Ibrahim Stadium but our opponents made life tough by closing lots of spaces,” said the Venezuelan.
“But the attitude of my boys was great. They did not give up.
“Now that the game is over, it’s back to the drawing board because we will face more sides like this in the future. We need to work harder when playing against defensively resolute sides.”
Yesterday, Brazilian striker Bergson da Silva (pic) got the ball rolling by scoring the first goal in the 12th minute when he unleashed a long-range strike from 25 metres to beat Negri goalkeeper Aqil Abdul Razak.
The 32-year-old Da Silva got his second in the 16th minute when he finished a pass from Spaniard winger Juan Muniz with a half volley.
Negri surprised their opponents when they reduced the deficit, scoring in the 27th minute when Myanmar winger Htet Aung capitalised on a loose clearance by tapping the ball into the empty net.
JDT continued to press but could not break down Negri’s defence as the opponents did not give much space to them.
Eventually, they got their third through captain Jordi Amat in the 71st minute when he finished off a brilliant setpiece move.
