Thu, 28 Oct, 2021
Hong Kong: Coach Mario Gomez hailed the character shown by his Johor Darul Ta’zim side as the Argentine enjoyed a happy return to Hong Kong with a 3-1 defeat of South China in their AFC Cup quarter-final second leg on Tuesday that sees the Malaysian champions advance to the semi-finals with a 4-2 aggregate win.
After the two teams played out a 1-1 draw in Johor Bahru last month, the Gomez’s team went into the encounter at Mongkok Stadium needing to score to have any hope of progressing to the last four.
And following an end-to-end opening period, it was Johor who went into the interval with a 3-1 lead despite having Argentine forward Luciano Figueroa sent off for an off-the-ball incident.
But after withstanding heavy second-half pressure, Gomez’s team held out to qualify for the semi-finals at the expense of his former club and in doing so became the first Malaysian side to reach the last four.
AFC Cup SF 2nd Leg: South China 1-3 Johor Darul Ta'zim (2-4 agg.)
“It was a very hard game because South China are a very good team and we had to play for an hour with 10 men,” said Gomez.
“We showed very good character and our organisation was very important as South China kept attacking, but they only had two real chances in the second half. Our discipline was very important.”
Johor took the lead midway through the first half through midfielder Muhalli Jasuli before Cameroonian forward Mahama Awal levelled things up for Casemiro Mior’s team just a minute later.
A brace from forward Safee Sali either side of Figueroa’s dismissal then ensured the visitors went into the interval with a two-goal cushion and leaving the hosts requiring three to advance.
South China defender Chak Ting Fung struck the post and captain Bojan Malisic missed a penalty in the final 10 minutes as Johor secured a famous victory.
“I told them at half-time that the first 10 minutes was very important not to get another red card because with nine men maybe it would be too difficult,” added Gomez.
“In professional football, 60 minutes with 10 men is a long time and at 0-0 maybe it would have been too difficult. At 3-1 we had a chance; the goal before half-time was very important.
“I’m very happy with the result and to be in the semi-finals. It is history for Johor.”
Opposite number Casemiro Mior, meanwhile, will now look to focus on South China’s domestic campaign after his side suffered their first defeat in front of home support in the continental tournament.
“We are very disappointed with the result as we worked hard for two months to prepare for the AFC Cup,” said Mior.
“We played well in Johor, but tonight everything changed because we made two or three mistakes. We had chances to equalise when we were 2-1 down, but Johor’s third made it very difficult for us.
“In the big games you cannot make mistakes like that. The players tried very hard in the second half. We had many chances, but in both games their goalkeeper made many saves.”
Photo: WSG