JDT defeats Kedah in football season opener

JDT's Jorge Rolando heads the ball during the Charity Shield match.

JOHOR BARU: Johor Darul Ta'zim (JDT) kicked off the 2018 Malaysian Super League football season by defeating Kedah 2-1 in the Charity Shield match on Saturday (Feb 3) night.

The four-time league champions initially fell behind when Kedah's Sandro Da Silva picked up a loose pass from JDT goalkeeper Mohd Izham Tarmizi and lobbed the ball towards Pablo Marzo, who slotted the ball into the net to make it 0-1 in the 15th minute.

But the Southern Tigers showed why they are the favourites for a fifth consecutive league title when they drew level in the 28th minute much to the delight of more than 23,000 fans at Larkin Stadium.

Argentinean Luciano Figueroa showed that his bite was still sharp despite coming out of retirement and not playing competitive football for two years when he scored an equaliser with a trademark header from Safiq Rahim's cross.

In the second half, JDT scored the winner when Brazilian centre half Marcos Antonio headed the ball from debutant Corbin Ong's cross in the 58th minute.