PETALING JAYA: Johor Darul Ta'zim (JDT) came narrowly close to securing their spot in the Asean Club Championship Shopee Cup final but saw their hopes dashed by Thailand’s Buriram United on Wednesday (May 13).
Despite losing 1-2 to the Southern Tigers in the semi-final second leg, hosts Buriram secured their final ticket after a 4-3 aggregate win at the Chang Arena thanks to Kingsley Schindler’s sole goal for the Thai side in extra time.
During the match, JDT, who were down 1-3 after the first leg clash at the Sultan Ibrahim Stadium, were awarded a penalty before half-time when Marcos Guilherme was brought down by Buriram’s Neil Etheridge inside the box.
Bergson da Silva then converted the spot-kick to reduce the deficit to 2-3.
In the second half, Guilherme found the equaliser for JDT in the 62nd minute with a flick past Etheridge, making things 3-3.
The match was forced into extra time, but the home fans did not have to wait for long as midfielder Schindler sent a powerful shot flying past JDT goalkeeper Ahmad Syihan Hazmi in the 97th minute.
However, Buriram were reduced to 10 men after Guilherme Bissoli was sent off after being shown his second yellow card of the night, 10 minutes into extra time.
In the second half of extra time, Buriram’s forward Suphanat Mueanta had the opportunity to give his side another goal in the dying minutes, but the one-on-one opportunity was denied by Syihan.
The hosts were then down another player after Serbian midfielder Goran Causic was shown the red card in the 114th minute.
But the one-goal cushion was enough for Buriram to secure their ticket to the final, where they meet Selangor.
The Red Giants secured their final berth after beating Vietnam’s Nam Dinh 4-1 on aggregate.
