KUALA LUMPUR: Johor Darul Ta’zim (JDT) bounced back to the top of the Super League standings in an incident-laden 3-1 win over eight-man Felda United at the Larkin Stadium last night (Friday).
The unbeaten Southern Tigers now have 20 points from eight matches, followed by Pahang with 17 points from seven matches. Felda United are in 10th spot in the 12-team standings with six points.
JDT and Felda United failed to break the deadlock in the first half.
But the game exploded into action after the break, starting with the sending off of Felda United’s Zahil Azri Zabri in the 60th minute for a second bookable offence when he fouled Ignacio Insa Bohigues.
The visitors then lost their second player when Thiago Junio De Aguino was sent off, also for a second bookable offence, for time-wasting in the 82nd minute.
With Felda United down to nine men, JDT managed to break the deadlock through Gonzalo Cabrera a minute later.
Things got worse for Felda United when they had a third player, skipper Muhammad Hadin Azman, sent off for a second bookable offence. But The Fighters, as they are aptly nicknamed, managed to equalise in the 90th minute through Kei Ikeda.
Just when Felda United thought they had escaped with a point, referee Fitri Maskon added eight minutes of injury time and JDT fully exploited it by scoring two more goals through Akhyar Rashid and Diogo Luis Santo.
Meanwhile in Premier League action, JDT II were held to a 1-1 draw by Police at the Selayang Municipal Council Stadium.
JDT II opened the scoring through Mohamad Ghaddar’s 56th-minute penalty before Muhammad Fauzan Mohd Fauzi rescued a point for Police when he headed in a free-kick in the 86th minute.
JDT II top the Premier League standings with 15 points after seven matches, followed by Sabah who are just a point behind. Police on the other hand only have two points to show after seven matches. Bernama