Johor Darul Ta’Zim retains its second trophy this season after beating Kuala Lumpur City 2-0 in the Piala FA Malaysia 2023 Final at Sultan Ibrahim Stadium, Iskandar Puteri.
As soon as the match started, JDT began to make moves by hitting the KL City stronghold, and as early as the second minute, Arif Aiman acted to infiltrate into the penalty box but was blocked by the defense of KL City.
KL City obviously did not sit idly by and almost caught JDT by surprise in the 15th minute after a free kick from Paulo Josue was right at Matko Zirdum who had crept in but the goalkeeper, Ahmad Syihan Hazmi Mohamed managed to block with his body to keep the goal from being scored.
Unfortunate for JDT, after the opportunity was served to frame the network, it was lost when Afiq Fazail’s ball from outside the penalty box in the 27th minute just stopped at the goal bar when goalkeeper Kevin Mendoza was killed.
Once again Bojan Hodak’s side almost scored in the 35th minute when Ramirez’s shot was right at T. Saravanan who managed to beat Matthew Davies before swiping the ball slowly but narrowly to the left of the goal when Ahmad Syihan Hazmi was already killed.
Continuing the second half, Fernando Forestieri missed the chance to frame the net in the 50th minute after a free kick from 25 meters saw Mendoza have time to float to ward off the ball.
It was unfortunate for Solari’s protege when Bergson’s goal scored in the 56th minute was canceled by referee Muhammad Nazmi Nasaruddin after the player was in an offside state when following up on Arif Aiman’s ball that hit the goal post.
After sweating all the sweat against the fort of KL City, the goal that was expected to materialize in the 65th minute after Shio Hong Wan made a comeback from 30 meters right to the left corner of the goal, killing Mendoza to put JDT ahead 1-0.
Leandro Velazquez then completed the win with a second goal when he, unmarked, slipped the ball between Sebastian Avanzini and Kamal Azizi Zabri in the 74th minute.
The success of winning the cup for the third time (2016, 2022, and 2023) is also quite sweet when it is achieved in front of its own supporters and successfully defended the championship twice in a row.
Credit Photo : Jayden Seah/SNE Images
