ISKANDAR PUTERI: Newly crowned Malaysia Cup champion Johor Darul Ta’zim (JDT) ended the Asian Champions League (ACL) Group I campaign on a high by routing BG Pathum United from Thailand 4-1 at the Sultan Ibrahim Stadium, here yesterday.
The win saw JDT accumulate nine points to finish third in the group behind Kawasaki Frontale who topped the group with 16 points followed by Ulsan Hyundai with 10 points while BG Pathum United finished at the bottom of the group without any points.
Despite what the scoreline reflects, it was BG Pathum United who took the lead after dominating the early exchanges when Igor Sergeyev struck in the 28th minute to put coach Esteban Solari’s team under pressure until the end of the first half.
The start of the second half was however, a totally new ball game, as the visitors were reduced to 10-man when Damilo Alves was given a straight red for handling the ball inside the box and Bergson Da Silva stepped up to score the equaliser in the 55th minute.
The loss of a man proved a costly affair for BG Pathum when Bergson was again on target in the 66th minute while Henderick Dos Santos made it 3-1 in the 86th minute.
JDT’s young sensation Arif Aiman capped a fine night for JDT with the fourth goal in the final minute of the match.
Meanwhile, in another Group I match, Kawasaki Frontale from Japan and Ulsan Hyundai from South Korea shared the spoils in a 2-2 draw at the Ulsan Munsu Stadium in South Korea.
Kawasaki Frontale made a flying start by taking the lead through Daiya Tono’s 17th minute strike and by the 31st minute made it 2-0 when Tatsuki Seko scored but a lapse in concentration saw Ulsan Hyundai reduce the deficit in the 44th minute through Martin Adam.
Ulsan Hyundai dominated the second half and earned a penalty which was tucked away by Martin in the 53rd minute to revive their hopes of moving into the knockout stage by qualifying among the second best placed teams in the overall standings.
The South Korean side will have to wait until tomorrow to see if their name will be among the six runner-up teams from a list of 10 that move into the knockout stage.
The 10 group winners and six best placed runner-up teams move into the last 16 knockout stage. — BERNAMA
