PETALING JAYA: Johor Darul Ta’zim (JDT) tightened their grip at the top of the Super League standings after beating Selangor 2-0 at the Petaling Jaya Stadium on Sunday (Jan 4).
The Southern Tigers struck early through midfielder Nacho Mendez, who broke the deadlock in the seventh minute.
His left-footed effort from 20 metres took a cruel deflection off the back of Selangor’s Ghanaian centreback Richmond Ankrah, wrong-footing goalkeeper Kalamullah Al-Hafiz and leaving him helpless.
The early breakthrough set the tone for a tense and tightly contested encounter.
While JDT controlled possession, Selangor remained dangerous on the counter, with Brazilian striker Chrigor Moraes posing the main threat to the visitors’ defence.
The match continued in a cagey fashion after the restart, prompting JDT to inject more attacking intent.
In the 60th minute, coach Xisco Munoz turned to proven goal scorer Bergson da Silva, introducing the Brazilian striker in place of Argentine winger Manuel Hidalgo.
And Bergson was the second goalscorer when he took a brilliant half-volley to beat Kalamullah after receiving a cross from Spanish wingback Oscar Arribas in injury time.
The win kept JDT firmly on top of the table with 39 points from 13 matches, extending their lead to 11 points. Selangor, meanwhile, remain fourth with 25 points from the same number of games.
