Just A Few Things: Kedah Vs. Johor Darul Takzim

Not Pretty, But Job Done

There’s always gonna be that sense of intrigue between these two sides. But the stakes couldn’t be any higher given the position they were in prior to kick-off. For Kedah, this presented a huge chance to overtake JDT break the curse of losing every time to them under Aidil Sharin while JDT needed to get back winning given how close it was between them and the three teams behind them.

The match played out for JDT almost the same way it did in their last two matches: Controlled the match and tempo, had the most shots but didn’t trouble the keeper enough. Only this time, they didn’t find themselves trailing at some point in the match and count themselves a little lucky Kpah Sherman’s floating header hit the bar on 41 minutes.

It pretty much was the same for JDT in the second half too. Plenty of control, but no breakthrough. Another disappointing result beckoned for the Southern Tigers until they were given a penalty. They duly scored the winner for a valuable three points to give themselves some distance between them and the rest of the top 4. You can argue that JDT deserves the win due to the balance of play. Well, it wasn’t pretty. But on some occasions champions will have to win ugly and that was what JDT did here while Kedah’s wretched record against the Southern Tigers under Aidil Sharin continues.

Aduhai, Renan…

Renan, Renan, Renan. All you had to do was to deal with the situation brilliantly. Instead, he has flushed all Kedah’s hard work down the toilet in the process. There are times where he has been absent in these crucially important games due to injury or suspension and when he does play, a rush of blood to his head will make him do face-palming decisions that would cost Kedah dearly. And that was exactly what happened here.

With injury time approaching, Mohamadou Sumareh was attacking the box on the left with a tight angle. All Renan Alves had to do was to stay on his feet and block Sumareh from cutting it back or deliver the ball. Instead, Renan needlessly went in for a dangerous-looking tackle and caught the naturalized winger. In the process, JDT was given a penalty and afterwards, the three points. It was another mad moment from the Brazilian and you have to wonder what Kedah head coach Aidil Sharin is thinking to say to him when the match ended.

Relief For Bergson

Oh, how Bergson needed that. He cut a frustrated figure in the last two matches having not scored in any of them. So that goal was desperately needed for the Brazilian to reenergize himself. Sure it came from a penalty (And questions have to be asked about his run-up) but if you look closely at the stats, you perhaps will feel that he deserves that goal or at least deserve to scream into the heavens with relief.

Bergson had to work hard to keep the possession going in JDT’s favour, but the Kedah set-up sometimes forced him to take shots from outside the box. JDT had 14 shots throughout the whole match and Bergson was responsible for 11 of them. However, eight of them were off-target, largely due to shooting from outside the box. Well, he at least is not afraid to go for a goal though, so at least that’s another positive to take, He only hit the target twice with his best chance a header on 51 minutes that needed to be tipped over by Shahril Sa’ari, prior to scoring that all-important penalty. His tally this season now takes him to ten goals as the Brazilian resumes his march for the Golden Boot challenge.

Kedah’s Approach Switch

Aidil Sharin made a small tweak to his Kedah line-up. Instead of his usual 4-3-3, it was more of a 4-4-2. Kipre Tchetche is deployed more centrally to support Kpah Sherman to add more zing to the attack. The reason why Kipre is allowed to contribute more offensively is due to the double pivot of R. Anumanthan and Amirul Hisyam to provide a much solid spine in shielding the defence. It resulted in frustrating JDT down the middle, forcing them to look to attack down the wings.

But Kedah set up their defence pretty wide. Meaning that the way they positioned themselves defensively won’t allow JDT’s wingers and full-backs to enjoy space and time to deliver lethal balls into the box. But were they disciplined when they went about it? Not exactly, but it was a solid try from Kedah from a defensive standpoint. But their defensive shape looked messy as the match approached full-time, and that was a factor to why they conceded that penalty in the first place. Not only that, but their attacking capabilities in this game also leaves much more to desire.

Are We Well Equipped?

Before he foolishly conceded a penalty, Renan Alves was at the centre of a scary incident right at the hour mark. JDT looking to attack by the left half-space via Gonzalo Cabrera, the Argentian got clattered by Renan just as he was about to breakthrough. Renan was rightly given a yellow card, but the challenge rendered Cabrera unconscious. Renan checked on on the winger as JDT physios entered the field as quickly as possible.

Commend has to be given to the medics and physios for being urgent to prevent any more pain incurred on Cabrera. But there was one particular moment that perhaps will catch anyone’s eye when Cabrera was stretchered off. One of the physios was seen gently tilting Cabrera’s head up slightly as the stretcher used to carry him does not include a neck brace to relieve the pain he perhaps may have felt around his head.

We’ve seen a moment like this before that was just as scary a few weeks ago when Sabah’s Azzizan Nordin looked knackered after accidentally clashing heads with Selangor’s Sharul Nazeem. Despite the serious situation, he was astoundingly allowed back on the pitch before thankfully being subbed off five minutes into the second half to prevent any more damage.

So the question here is: Do we have the right equipment to cater to players who suffered serious head injuries, let alone the right protocol? Are we well equipped? I mean, it was great that high urgency was shown to deal with situations like Cabrera’s. But I would love to know what the procedure to face an incident like this is like. Luckily Cabrera is still alive and breathing as he gave a thumbs up to show he’s Ok in a tweet posted by Astro Arena’s Zulhelmi Zainal Azam. Even so, it was a scary moment...

THIS ARTICLE IS POWERED BY CYBERLYNX INTERNATIONAL COLLEGE: EDUCATION FOR THE NEW MILLENNIUM