DARUL Ta’zim piled the pressure on Super League title rivals Selangor by opening a four-point lead in the standings after a 3-0 win over Kelantan in Johor Baru while Police celebrated their return to the top-flight by claiming the Premier League title yesterday.
With Selangor only in action against Sarawak today, Darul Ta’zim bounced back from Tuesday’s 2-0 reverse against Armed Forces in style to stay in the hunt for their first major trophy.
A win over Sarawak in Kuching on Wednesday will confirm the Johor club as Super League champions for the first time.
Amirulhadi Zainal broke the deadlock at the Larkin Stadium in the 26th minute when he ran on to a through ball from Safiq Rahim and slotted past Kelantan goalkeeper Khairul Fahmi Che Mat spite being off-balanced for his first goal of the season.
Nazrin Nawi stabbed in Darul Ta’zim’s second goal from close range eight minutes after half-time when Luciano Figueroa’s initial attempt was blocked by Kelantan defender Nik Shahrul Azim Halim before returning the favour to the Argentine in the 88th minute for the final score of 3-0.
Forces earned a valuable point in a 1-1 draw with Terengganu in Kuala Terengganu in their battle against the drop after Fabrice Noel’s 64th-minute goal cancelled Norfarhan Muhammad’s opener for the hosts four minutes earlier.
B. Sathianathan’s side are three points ahead of Perak, who play LionsXII in Singapore today.
Police strolled to a 4-0 win over Negri Sembilan in Paroi to lift their second Premier League title after 2007 with a match to spare as Bobby Gonzales, Fauzi Abd Majid, Ali Ashfaq and Azi Shahril Azmi were on target.
Felda United clinched the second promotion spot when they thrashed Universiti Teknologi Mara 8-0 in Selayang.
