Emotional victory: Bergson Da Silva celebrating after JDT beat Ulsan in the AFC Champions League Elite match. Below: JDT coach Hector Bidoglio speaking to the press. — Bernama
PETALING JAYA: Johor Darul Ta’zim (JDT) are simply impenetrable and coach Hector Bidoglio can’t be happier.
In the biggest of stages, the Southern Tigers showed why they are one of the biggest growing sides in Asia when they humbled K-League 1 champions Ulsan HD 3-0 in the AFC Champions League Elite (ACLE) East Zone match at the Sultan Ibrahim Stadium on Tuesday.
Winger Arif Aiman Hanapi got the first goal as early as the eighth minute when he forced centreback Kim Young-gwon to make a poor pass with his pressing, and capitalised by finishing it with a low drilled finish past goalkeeper Jo Hyeon-woo.
The second came in the 67th minute when Spanish-Filipino wingback Oscar Arribas unleashed a shot from outside the penalty box, which was deflected by one of the Ulsan defenders, catching Hyeon-woo off-guard.
Substitute Brazilian striker Bergson Da Silva got the third with a superb finish inside the box to cap a glorious night for JDT.
JDT moved to third in the East Zone standings with seven points, while Ulsan remained bottom without a point.
Bidoglio was beyond delighted with the result.
“I just want to say thank you to the crowd for an electrifying atmosphere, to the boss (Tunku Ismail Sultan Ibrahim) for showing faith in me and most importantly, my boys, for showing heart and soul during the game.
“As a coach, I cannot fault anything. They played well, showed great dynamism and intensity against one of the big sides in Asia and also a recent K-League champions.
“Even in defence, we were compact and aggressive. I have to laud my whole squad. I do not see quality going down from the first eleven to the substitutes, everyone is equal. I have a great squad to choose from.”
In the past, whenever JDT took on bigger clubs from Asia, they resorted to tactical discipline and counter-attacks to down teams but in recent matches, they have looked dominant, especially against Ulsan.
They had 16 shots compared to Ulsan’s six and won 57% of their duels, compared to Ulsan’s 43%.
That is something Bidoglio is striving for with his charges.
“Look, in every game, we want to be the protagonist, the main character. We want possession, we want to dominate, we want to press quickly and create lots of chances.
“Even when we lose the ball, we want to have it back in 30 seconds. That is our philosophy, which is to be aggressive and annihilate opponents.
“To play this way is not easy, it requires a lot of sacrifice from the players. And yes, quality has to be there too, so my boys have been showing throughout the season. We are a big club now, and will continue to grow.”
