PETALING JAYA: Sorry was not the hardest word for Johor Darul Ta’zim (JDT) coach Xisco Munoz when he apologised to fans after they suffered a 3-1 home loss to Buriram United in the semi-final first leg of the Asean Club Championship Shopee Cup on Wednesday.
But the Spaniard insisted the tie remains open as the Southern Tigers plot to overturn the deficit in the return leg at the Chang Arena in Buriram on May 13.
Munoz, however, was unable to contain his frustration at the Sultan Ibrahim Stadium as it was JDT’s third loss to the Thai outfit in five meetings in all competitions over the last 18 months.
Guilherme Bissoli scored twice (35th, 90th) and Goran Causic also found the back of the net (45th) to hand defending champions Buriram the comfortable win while Ager Aketxe scored the consolation for JDT in the second minute of added time.
The defeat also extended JDT’s winless run against Buriram to five matches, with three losses and two draws.
“We are sad about the result and we apologise to our fans. We tried to control the game but in football, at the end of the day, it’s about who has the capacity to score more,’’ said Munoz.
“What’s incredible is that they scored three goals out of the three shots they had.
‘’Now we need to focus fully on the second leg. We need to go to Thailand and try to change the situation.
“We must analyse everything and focus on how we can overturn the deficit.”
Buriram coach Mark Jackson said he never doubted his team’s ability to claim a positive result from the first-leg clash.
“I always believe my team can win the big games,’’ said the Englishman.
“We knew it was going to be a tough game coming here against a huge crowd and a good team, but we showed excellent discipline in how we wanted to play.
‘’All the players showed a high work rate. I’m pleased with the result but we’re not through yet and will treat our first-leg lead like a half-time score.
‘’The tie is far from over, so we have to be focused on the return leg.”
