Johor Darul Ta’azim (JDT) have been crowned the winners of 2016 Charity Shield after winning 7-6 on penalties over Selangor. Their triumph over the Red Giants ensured the Southern Tigers a consecutive season-opening win, after defeating Pahang 2-0 at the start of last season.
The 2015 M-League champions and the Malaysian Cup winners started the match by fielding all four of their foreign players, and JDT got the better of Selangor as Singaporean Hariss Harun scored the first goal of the match. However, Hafiz Kamal equalized with a free-kick to take the game to a penalty shoot-out.
The start of the match was somewhat even as both sides managed to produce a couple of attacks. However, JDT slowly took control of the tempo. New signing, Juan Martin Lucero had a glorious attempt blocked by Norazlan Razali on the 12th minute.
JDT captain Safiq Rahim then fired a shot wide off target, before having an attempt saved by the Selangor goalkeeper.
Juan Lucero could have scored the first goal of the game, but the ball just missed his head by a couple of inches after a brilliant cross from S. Kunanlan. The Argentinian forward squandered another chance as his shot on goal was saved again by Norazlan Razali.
Johor DT finally took the lead just before the break, after Hariss Harun headed home from close range after a corner from Safiq Rahim to send the home fans into ecstasy.
The second half kicked off and immediately Selangor responded. There was a little more initiative from the away side, as Mauro Olivi curled an effort just wide ten minutes into the half.
On the 60th minute, Mohd Hafiz Kamal brought the match level after curling a sweet free-kick past Farizal Marlias in goal. His goal meant that he has now scored in the MSL, FA Cup, TM Malaysia Cup, AFC Cup and now, the Charity Shield.
As the game progressed, the tempo slowed down, though JDT showed a desire to push forward. On the other hand, Selangor struggled to contain Johor’s fluency throughout the last quarter of the game.
The referee blew the final whistle to indicate that the winners of the Charity Shield will be decided by a penalty shoot-out.
JDT won the penalty shoot-out 7-6 after Azril Nasrulhaq blasted it wide, retaining the Charity Shield that they also won last year. As far as the league table is concerned though, both sides go home with one point each.
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