It was a nightmare for coach Raul Longhi, it was a nightmare for goalkeeper Izham Tarmizi and it was a nightmare for 2015 AFC Cup champions Johor Darul Takzim at the Gelora Bung Karno Stadium, Jakarta.
Indonesia’s Persija Jakarta made things difficult for the four-time Malaysian Super League champions with a big 4-0 win in a Group H match to shoot to the top of the table with 10 points from five matches – the same as Vietnam’s Song Lam Nghe An FC on head to head count.
The big defeat means, JDT who are third in the table on seven points, need to beat Song Lam by a big margin in their last group match if they harbour any hopes of advancing to the knockout stage.
The man who destroyed the Southern Tigers was former Melaka United striker Marko Simic who scored all four goals – netting a hattrick within the first 20 minutes in a match JDT also saw red.
JDT defender Adam Nor Azlin was given the marching orders in the 78th minute for two bookable offences, His first yellow was in the 17th minute.
But the night belonged to Simic who took his tally to four in the 85th minute when he converted a penalty after JDT’s Azrif Nasrulhaq fell Persija midfielder Riko Simanjuntak inside the box.
For Simic he simply turned the stadium into his show and ‘this is Bung Karno” for the 60,000 plus fans who had turned up to watch their team play – knowing that a win would be sweet revenge for their Persija’s 3-0 defeat to JDT in the first-leg at Larkin Stadium on Valentine’s Day in February.
Simic opened his floodgates as early the seventh minute when he headed home a cross by Riko. Five minutes later Simic beat JDT keeper Izham with another header – this time from an inch perfect freekick by Rezaldi Hehanusa to give Persija a 2-0 advantage.
The Croatian was not finished yet and he completed his hattrick on 20 minutes with an assist from Ramdani Lestaluhu for Persija to lead 3-0 at half-time.
In another Group H match Song Lam Nghe An beat Singapore’s Tampines Rovers 2-1 at the Vinh Stadium, Vinh, Vietnam. – BY RIZAL ABDULLAH
AFC CUP RESULTS
GROUP H
Persija Jakarta (Ina) 4 JDT (Mas) 0
Song Lam Nghe An (Vie) 2 Tampines Rovers (Sgp) 1
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