Johor Darul Takzim (JDT) were controversially knocked out of the AFC Cup on away goals after losing 2-1 to Ceres in the 2nd leg.
Ceres needed a late, late penalty from Fernando Rodriguez to see them through to the ASEAN Zonal finals to add on Kota Kawase’s goal while Gabriel Guerra scored for the away team.
However, it took 26 minutes for the match to see finally see a chance and a goal. Kevin Ingreso swung in a free-kick from the right-wing and Kawase got ahead to get his foot on the ball and into the net.
Ceres was the better side in the first half and casued a lot of problems to JDT with their fluid attack, but chances from OJ Porteria & Rodriguez were spurned as they finish the half one-up.
But Ceres were lax after the restart and JDT grew more into the game. Marcos Antonio though, could’ve got the equalizer when his bouncing header was just over the bar from Safiq Rahim’s corner on the 54th minute.
Ten minutes later, JDT finally got their reward. Gonzalo Cabrera played a sublime through pass to the right that found Guerra, who finishes nicely with a low cross although Ceres keeper Roland Muller got the tiniest of touches.
Three minutes later, JDT allowed a long ball to reach Iain Ramsay on the left, but Porteria wasted his header over the ball with no pressure at all on him.
JDT were cruising and were set to advance, only for the referee to award a penalty after Aidil Zafuan seemed to foul a Ceres player following a corner. JDT furiously protested the decision but the referee stood firm.
Rodriguez stepped up and buried the penalty in the centre of the goal, which proved to be the winning goal.
However, Farizal Marlias completely lost his temper and all sense of reasoning when he ran to the centre of the pitch and still protested to the referee about the penalty. His decision to eventually lay hands on the match officials led to a red card being brandished
But Farizal could face further punishment when he shoved the referee before the red was shown.
Other posts by Azri Aqil
