JDT's Morais not happy with only the one point against Kedah

Ooi Kin Fai

JDT's Morais not happy with only the one point against Kedah image

The 2017 Super League champions Johor Darul Ta'zim (JDT) ended their campaign with only a draw after they were held to a 0-0 by Kedah in Saturday's final round of the season.

In a match that was lacking in high intensity, at times it looked like both teams were just going through the motions, with half an eye on the cup final on October 4. That said, JDT had the upper hand for most parts of the match and were still able to fashioned good goal-scoring chances, particularly in the second half.

Having rested Safiq Rahim, Gonzalo Cabrera and Mohammed Ghaddar at the start of the match, head coach Ulisses Morais was still unhappy that his team did not go home with all three points.

"It's a good game between the two teams. We are not too happy with the one point because we controlled most of the game and we had more chances than Kedah. But we accept the result because both teams tried to make the best."

"Both teams will be focusing on the final after this. We have days to prepare and we'll try our best. We'll definitely be looking to win in the final," said Morais in an interview with the host broadcasters after the match.

After a tepid first half, the introduction of the aforementioned benched trio did improve JDT's attacking threat but a combination of poor finishing as well as the brilliance of Kedah's Abdul Hadi Hamid in goal, meant that both teams had to be satisfied with only a single point.

The draw marks the end of another succesful league campaign for the Southern Tigers who became the first team to retain the league title three years in a row. Kedah as well as Pahang provided the challenge during the course of the season but they ultimately had to accept that JDT were by far the better and most consistent team around.

 

Ooi Kin Fai

Goal's correspondent for Malaysia