Johor Darul Takzim Vs. Suwon Samsung Bluewings: Mauricio At It Again
Credit: AFC Champions League
Johor Darul Takzim (JDT) has marked their first Asian Champions League match in their new Sultan Ibrahim Stadium with an astounding 2-1 win over South Korea’s Suwon Samsung Bluewings after an assured & solid performance.
JDT had to go into the match without captain Hariss Harun & Aidil Zafuan due to injuries with Natxo Insa & Fadhli Shas replacing them and goalkeeper Farizal Marlias taking over as captain.
JDT had a chance in the third minute with a long ball reaching Safawi Rasid on the right. The winger cut inside and ran towards the centre in the box, but his weak snapshot didn’t trouble anyone.
Both sides were playing at a low tempo with a cautious approach. The game however came into life when Diogo Luis Santo won a penalty after being fouled by Ming Sang-gi following Nazmi Faiz’ sublime through pass down the middle. Referee Alireza Faghani called for the foul and gave the penalty following the linesman’s advice. Replays showed however, the foul may have been committed just outside the box.
Up stepped Gonzalo Cabrera and his penalty was narrowly out of Suwon keeper No Dong-geon’s reach to give the hosts the lead.JDT almost gave up the lead immediately. Kim Min-woo from the left lays the ball off for Adam Taggart who had loads of space, only for the Australian striker to somehow blaze it over.
JDT were doing well to keep up with Suwon, looking quite threatening going forward and did well to frustrate their South Korean visitors with composed defending. Suwon on the other hand looked like they have problems in creating the attacks.
It resulted in Suwon head coach, Lee Lim-saeng to make a double change at half-time and one of them made the intended impact just five minutes after restart. Terry Antonis, who replaced Myeong Jun-jae, received the ball just outside the box and duly launched a beautiful left-footed shot into the far top corner that left Farizal no chance.
Eventually though, JDT slowly regained control following Suwon’s early bright display in the second-half. Unfortunately, they wasted a few promising attacking situations that perhaps they could’ve done better.
In the end, it didn’t matter. On 72 minutes off a corner, Nazmi Faiz played in an excellent pinpoint cross to find Mauricio. And the Brazilian defender, who had a fine solid defensive display with Fadhli Shas, duly headed in between two Suwon defenders to retake the lead for the home side and ultimately, the victory over the lackluster Suwon.