In a blink of an eye, 18 Malaysia Super League matches for the 2021 season have come and gone. A total of 38 goals have been scored by the 12 competing teams with Johor Darul Ta’zim (JDT) and Terengganu FC (TFC) separated at the top only by goal difference.
Elsewhere Petaling Jaya City are punching above their weight sitting high-up in third spot, helped by a renaissance from Darren Lok who is currently leading the goalscoring charts while perennial giant Pahang are languishing just a spot from bottom, ahead of UiTM.
Goal picks out the winners and losers after an action-packed Round 3 of the new season.
Incredible Arif leads JDT to a rout in Shah Alam
The reigning champions showed their tremendous strength in depth as well as providing an inkling of what lies in the future in their 4-0 hammering of UiTM on enemy territory. An injury to talismanic forward Safawi Rasid before the 10th-minute mark was not what the club wanted from the game but what ensued proved that The Southern Tigers will not be impacted too much by his absence.
Coming on for his stricken team-mate, Arif Aiman displayed his burgeoning talent by scoring with his first involvement in the game. Picking up the ball on the right hand side, Arif drove towards goal, beat two players before picking the bottom corner of the net with his shot to set JDT on their way.
There’s still plenty for the teenager to learn as he develops his game but the talent is there for all to see. Exciting on the ball and a willing dribbler, there’s a sense of expectancy every time he gets on the ball and with Safawi's injury, there could be more game time in store for young Arif in the coming weeks.
Benjamin Mora made four changes to his side for this game and still the team hardly looked disjointed. There was even a cameo appearance from new signing Bergson da Silva who came on in the final half an hour and showed a quick link-up with his new team-mates with a well-taken goal.
JDT
Darren’s banging goals in for fun for fully local PJ City
PJ City made the bold decision in electing to go through the 2021 season without relying on a single foreign player as they focus their recruitment within the country and while it is still early days, being unbeaten after three matches goes a long way in justifying that decision.
Two draws and a win with two clean sheets, P. Maniam’s boys are showing that they are up for the fight against teams with as many as five foreign players in their side. Currently in third spot, it still remains highly unlikely that PJ City will be able to maintain that position come the end of the season but they are definitely making great strides.
Oftentimes playing second fiddle to foreign strikers, linking up with PJ City for the new season has been a great tonic for Darren Lok, who has never gotten a real run with either JDT or TFC previously, albeit he was also injured for large parts of the time with his two former teams.
Three starts in the last three games, Darren has received a show of faith from Maniam and is rewarding his head coach in kind with three goals from as many matches. If the 30-year-old can starve off injuries, there’s no reason why he can't make this goalscoring form a more regular occasion throughout the season.
Konate does it again as TFC keeps pace with the champions
Prior to the start of the season, TFC were largely seen by pundits and experts as a team who have done incredibly well in the transfer window and could possibly be a dark horse to be one of the closest challenger to JDT’s throne, and so it is proving as they picked up their third win in the campaign.
A perfect record of 100% wins from three matches thus far, TFC’s charge to the top has not been without its issues, in particular with key attacker Petrus Shitembi out for a long spell on the sidelines and star striker David Da Silva also injured and not able to be part of the squad in the last two matches.
Nafuzi Zain was forced to call up Jordan Mintah and Dechi Marcel N’Guessan from Terengganu II with both players acclimating well to the main team but it is another player who has been an influential figure in TFC picking up victories over UiTM, Selangor and Perak.
Makan Konate’s second stint in Malaysian football is fast proving to be a fruitful one as he steps into the creative breach once occupied by Lee Tuck. The Mali midfielder has assisted one goal in each of the three matches with great variety - a through ball behind the defence, a pinpoint cross and a clever cutback. It remains to be seen if TFC can maintain this run but if they are to do that, for sure Konate will play a huge part in it.
TFC
Struggle continues for Red Giants after opening fireworks
After starting the campaign with an impressive 3-1 win over Sri Pahang FC, Selangor have thus far failed to match that opening outing, losing to TFC on the road and only managing to secure a late draw at home to Kuala Lumpur City FC.
Oliver Buff shone with a brace of goals while Shahrel Fikri offered a glimpse of what Selangor fans can expect from the top scoring local player in the league last season as both newcomers to the team scored on their debut in that win over Sri Pahang.
But Karsten Nietzel has had to juggle with injuries to the likes of Halim Saari and Brendan Gan, the latter returning on Saturday against KL but did not look like he was fully fit. On top of that, Tim Heubach is still adapting to the team and the league, with Selangor’s defence already breached five times in three matches.
Having earned the Golden Boot last season, Ifedayo Olusegun is yet to break his duck for the new season through a combination of a lack of service to him as well as his profligacy in front of goal. The Nigerian is a key player for the Red Giants and his partnership with Shahrel is one of the major reasons for Selangor fans to be hopeful at the start of the season.
Selangor will not have a tougher fixture to bounce back from the disappointment of not picking up a win over KL when they travel to Sultan Ibrahim Stadium to face JDT on Wednesday but Neitzel will have relatively easier fixtures to come after that in the shape of Penang FC and UiTM.
