ISKANDAR PUTERI: Johor Darul Ta'zim (JDT) were just too good for Kuala Lumpur City in the Charity Cup at the Sultan Ibrahim Stadium here today.
Benjamin Mora's side were dominant and were hardly troubled by KL City, who had upset JDT in the Malaysia Cup final last season, as they won 3-0 in front of 16,000 fans.
JDT owner Tunku Ismail Sultan Ibrahim had said that he would step away from football had they lost today. With the win, Tunku Ismail will remain in football and continue as the club owner.
JDT, who pinned Bojan Hodak's side for almost the entire match with their enterprising play, opened the scoring in the 26th minute. Nazmi Faiz Mansor nodded in JDT's goal, beating KL goalkeeper Kevin Mendoza, from an Arif Aiman Hanapi cross.
Five minutes later, JDT doubled their lead through new signing Fernando Forestieri, who beat Mendoza with a powerful shot from outside the penalty box.
KL came close through Zhafri Yahya in the 33rd minute, but it was not enough to beat JDT goalkeeper Farizal Marlias.
Afiq Fazail scored JDT's third goal, taking advantage of a poor clearance by KL defender Kamal Azizi Zabri to slot home the ball.
The win will definitely boost JDT's confidence when they start their Super League campaign next month.
"We were prepared for this match. We always try to play good football and try different things.
Today, we moved the ball a lot and tried to dominate possession.
"KL, as expected, sat back and waited for us. However, we played to our plan and won all duels to find space in the opponent's penalty box.
"Every match is important to us, and tomorrow we will return to the training pitch and prepare for our Super League season," said Benjamin after the match.