KUALA NERUS: Defending champions Johor Darul Ta’zim secured a comfortable victory when they blanked out Terengganu FC 4-0 in the first leg semi-final of the Malaysia Cup at the Sultan Mizan Zainal Abidin Stadium (SSMZA).
The first whistle saw the visiting team launching an attack as early as the second minute through sensational striker Bergson Da Silva.
However, the weak shot was easily caught by Turtles goalkeeper Muhammad Rahadiazli Rahalim who was looming large in front of the goal.
Startled by the attempt, the home team rose to counterattack and carved a chance in the eighth minute, but Nurillo Tukhtasinov’s weak attempt was no threat for goalkeeper Ahmad Syihan Hazmi Mohamed.
However, in the 17th minute, the Turtles finally cracked under an onslaught of attack after attack by the Southern Tigers led by Matthew Davis.
JDT’s first goal was scored by naturalised player Romel Morales who flicked the ball in from a corner kick by Juan Muniz.
In the 35th minute, JDT scored another goal but it was disallowed by referee Fitri Maskon after reviewing the video assistant referee (VAR), leaving JDT with a narrow 1-0 lead at the interval.
Both teams returned to the second half to steal the pace of the game as the pendulum for a first-leg advantage could still swing either way.
Coached by Badrul Afzan Razali, the best chance for the host to equalise came in the 62nd minute, but Manuel Ott’s swift shot went just over the JDT bar.
Agile winger Arif Aiman Mohd Hanafi emerged as the JDT hero when he scored the second goal in the 79th minute and again scoring the third in the 84th minute for JDT to surge ahead to an uncatchable 3-0.
In injury time, Bergson added salt to the wound of over 11,000 agonising home fans when he scored the fourth goal to end the match with JDT stealing a 4-0 march.
TFC and JDT will meet for the second leg in the Southern Tigers’ den at the Sultan Ibrahim Stadium (SSI) on Feb 1.
