JDT regain 4 point lead over title challengers

The Southern Tigers ended the unwanted run of failing to beat Selangor at home in the Super League with a convincing 2-0 win on Wednesday night at Tan Sri Dato Haji Hassan Yunos Stadium.

This fixture has only seen draws in the 2016 and 2017 season, the win allowed JDT the chance to regain back their 4-point lead at the top of the league.

A match that was initially planned to be played on Tuesday night but heavy downpour meant that the game had to be pushed back 24 hours.

But if the first half is any indication, the delay only looked like it quell the momentum of both teams, given the lacklustre display on show for the first 45 minutes.

That said, Farizal Marlias twice had to deny Rufino Segovia in the first half, to ensure that his team do not go into the break trailing in the match.

At the other end, K. Kannan's wild clearance that almost crept into his own goal was the only time that Khairulazhan Khalid felt that his goal was threatened.

It was a different story in the second half as the home side wrested control of the match and all of the sudden increased the tempo of their game.

Gonzalo Cabrera skinned two players enroute towards goal in the 61st minute, and had the composure to pick out Hazwan Bakri for the simplest of tap-ins to open the scoring for JDT.

Only eight minutes would separate the first and second goal of the night and once again, it was the right side of Selangor's defence that failed to deal with the danger.

This time, it was Safawi Rasid who won the speed battle there and his low cross was turned in by the on-rushing Nazmi Faiz for JDT to lead 2-0.

Selangor offered little resistance to the outcome of the match and stumbled to their fifth defeat of the season.

For the reigning champions, a good win that kept up their 100% home win record in the league and more importantly, one that keeps Pahang at bay.

If there's one negative point for JDT fans to consider, it wil be how long Ignacio 'Natxo' Insa will be on the sidelines after he seemed to have picked up a groin injury.