PETALING JAYA: Johor Darul Ta’zim (JDT) lived up to expectations by overcoming Kuching City 4-1 on aggregate on Sunday to reach the FA Cup final for the fourth straight year, but the victory was far from easy.
JDT coach Xisco Munoz admitted that the absence of winger Arif Aiman Hanapi, who is nursing an injury, disrupted his plans during the FA Cup semi-final second leg against Aidil Sharin Sahak’s Kuching City at the Sultan Ibrahim Stadium on Sunday.
He was relieved, however, that goals from Bergson Da Silva (pic) in the 25th minute and Eddy Israfilov late in the match were enough to send the Southern Tigers into yet another final.
In the first leg at Sarawak State Stadium on Nov 9, JDT secured a 2-1 win through Bergson’s brace before Petrus Shitembi pulled one back for Kuching City.
“Although we controlled the game, it was difficult for our forwards to find openings when the opponents played with a 5-4-1 formation. When you have chances, you must score, but their marking on our players was very tight.
“On top of that, the outstanding performance of Kuching City goalkeeper Haziq Nadzli denied several of our attempts and he was the main reason we could not add more goals. Still, the 2-0 win was enough to take us to the final.
“At JDT, the target in every competition is to reach the final. The players showed how hungry they are for this trophy and their hard work in training, both morning and night sessions, has paid off,” said Munoz.
Over in the Kuching City camp, Aidil was still proud of his side despite failing to reach the final, saying his underdogs managed to unsettle JDT.
His team also faced a tougher task with several key players missing, including Ronald Ngah, Jordan Mintah, Daniel Amier Norhisham and Gabriel Nistelrooy, yet they still managed to put up a strong fight.
“We planned in two phases for the first half, especially the opening 20 minutes, where the goal was to stop JDT from scoring and it worked. But in the second phase the players switched off and allowed JDT to score.
“At half-time, I reminded the players not to concede within the first 15 minutes because our tactic was to push forward and attack since we were trailing 0-1 and still had a chance to come back,” said Aidil.
