The Malaysia Super League title race took a major twist on Saturday night, with both Johor DT and Pahang dropping points in their respective ties.
JDT went into the weekend as league leaders, though only one point separated them from second-placed Pahang. And they knew that their tie against Kelantan would be tricky, judging by the Red Warriors’ tendency to do well at home – a reality that hit Mario Gomez’s men directly on the face.
Within 13 minutes of their match in Kota Bharu, Kelantan were 2-0 up. Gilmar broke the deadlock on the fourth minute mark with a clinical finish, before Kelantan were awarded a spot kick nine minutes later. Badri Radzi stepped up and executed it with composure to double the home side’s lead.
JDT came back firing on all cylinders in the second half, which culminated in Mahali Jasuli reducing the deficit in the 50th minute. Their joy though, was short-lived as Norfarhan restored Kelantan’s two-goal lead merely one minute later. Gilmar added salt on JDT’s wound by applying a fine finish to notch his second goal on the 83rd minute – thus helping Kelantan seal an emphatic 4-1 win over the reigning league champions.
Meanwhile, Pahang were frustrated by a resolute Perak side in Ipoh, as they battled out a 1-1 draw, which nonetheless earned them a valuable point.
After a frustrating start to the game, Pahang got their momentum going on the 31st minute, as Hafiz Kamal curled home a terrific free kick to put them ahead. The Elephants continued to press on the offensive, knowing that a second goal would help them put the tie to bed, but Perak’s resolute defending made their lives difficult.
Dickson Nwakaeme found the back of the net on the 47th minute, but the goal was ruled out after the Nigerian forward was adjudged to have handled the ball en route to scoring. Their inability to kill the game, allowed Perak an opportunity to come back into the game – something they eventually did through Bobby Gonzales on the 69th minute and the score line remained till the end of 90 minutes.
With two matches left in the season, both JDT and Pahang are now on 43 points and they also have the exact same goal difference of 16 goals. But Pahang have seized top spot, by virtue of having scored more goals (40 to JDT’s 31).
Ties against Perak and Felda United await the Southern Tigers next, while Pahang will be taking on Felda United and Terengganu.
This is where it gets absolutely neck to neck. The title race has a new friend and he goes by the name of ‘Goal Difference’.
FULL MSL RESULTS – Saturday 15 August
LionsXII 1-1 Selangor
Kelantan 4-1 JDT
Perak 1-1 Pahang
PDRM 1-1 Sime Darby
Felda United 1-0 Terengganu
ATM 1-1 Sarawak
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