Johor DT have sealed their spot in the knockout stages of the AFC Cup after easing to a 1-0 win over East Bengal in what was a highly scrappy affair.
As promised,.East Bengal fielded a second string line-up, allowing Johor DT to control the tempo from kick off. The Southern Tigers applied consistent pressure on the home side, leading to an early goal as Amri Yahya broke the deadlock on the sixth minute mark.
As the match progressed, it was continuously disrupted by heavy thunderstorm, though Safiq Rahim and Luciano Figueroa continued pressing diligently, to not allow the home side any time and space on the ball.
On the 30th minute though, the match was indefinitely halted as the downpour became vigorous. 45 minutes later, play resumed, as JDT picked up from where they left off to continue pressing on and off the ball. But that being said, the score remained 1-0 at half time.
After the break, East Bengal upgraded their tempo and started launching attacks of their own, for a good 10 minutes. Ismail Ibrahim’s men though, remained tight at the back and nullified the waves of attacks that were launched at them. That was followed by a short spell of domination for the away side, before East Bengal got into their strides once again, and started pumping forward in search of the elusive equalizer that would still give them some hope, going into Matchday 6.
Credits to the away side though, as they defended well enough to eventually hold on and secure their progression into the knockout stages. In fact, they are now two points ahead of Kitchee FC, and a win over Balestier Khalsa will see them progress as league leaders as well.
Photo Credits: Asiana.my
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