Thu, 28 Oct, 2021
Johor Baru: Jorge Pereyra Diaz stole the show with two goals and two assists as Malaysian champions Johor Darul Ta’zim eased to a resounding 5-0 win over Myanmar's Ayeyawady United in their AFC Cup Round of 16 clash at Larkin Stadium on Wednesday.
Argentinean Diaz had a hand in the opening two goals as he provided the assists for captain Safiq Rahim and compatriot Luciano Figueroa to convert in either half.
Diaz then took centre stage as he showed his lengthy absence had not affected his lethal touch in front of goal by netting a brace before Figueroa scored again late in added time to seal Johor’s place in the quarter-finals.
Gomez praises Johor's attacking trio
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Johor signalled their intentions to take the game by the scruff of the neck from the first whistle and duly broke the deadlock after just two minutes as Safiq burst into the penalty area from Diaz’s square pass before rounding onrushing Ayeyawady goalkeeper Vanlal Hruai and slotting the ball into the bottom right corner of the net.
Figueroa almost doubled the lead in the 19th minute when he saw his point-blank header from a Nazrin Nawi cross from the left punched out by Hruai.
Despite dominating the run of play, the hosts were often left frustrated by the stout defending of Ayeyawady’s Anderson West inside the area as Johor were restricted to a single goal lead at half-time.
But their second goal did not take long to arrive as Figueroa scored two minutes after the restart as Diaz made a mazy run from the left and took on two defenders before laying the ball off for his compatriot to stab from close range.
Against incessant possession-based pressure from the hosts, Ayeyawady rarely had a sniff at Izham Tarmizi’s goal and the closest the visitors came to threatening was when substitute Aye Ko Ko Maung headed a free kick straight at the Johor goalkeeper.
And Diaz netted the third goal a minute after the hour mark when he showed skill to wrongfoot an Ayeyawady defender before firing low into the net.
Diaz made it four on 74 minutes when he headed home a corner from Safiq before Figueora completed the rout in injury time when he timed his run perfectly to head home another Safiq corner.
Photo: WSG