KUALA LUMPUR – Brazilian striker, Diogo Luis Santo scored his first hat-trick of the season to aid defending champions, Johor Darul Ta’zim (JDT) in keeping their unbeaten record in the 2023 Super League by demolishing Kuala Lumpur City (KL City) FC, 6-1, tonight.
From the onset, JDT launched continuous attacks in the game at Sultan Ibrahim Stadium, Iskandar Puteri, and the efforts were rewarded with two early goals within a minute each through Diogo and sensational winger, Arif Aiman Mohd Hanapi.
Diogo scored the first goal of the match by pouncing on Leandro Velazquez’s attempt in the 12th minute before sensational winger Arif Aiman Mohd Hanapi unleashed a powerful kick into the KL City goal to double the home team’s lead a minute later.
The Southern Tigers continued to roar when Diogo’s header hit the net in the 35th minute and he completed his hat-trick by neatly netting a La’vere Corbin Ong’s pass one minute before the end of the first half.
The visitors who started relatively well in the second half managed to take advantage of a chaotic situation in front of the JDT goal resulting in a corner kick with Croatian defender Marko Zitdum scoring his team’s consolation goal in the 54th minute.
However, veteran player, Safiq Rahim, proved that his touch is still lethal when he scored the fifth goal for Esteban Solari’s team in the 86th minute and it was Muhammad Akhyar’s turn to receive Arif Aiman’s pass to seal their big win over Bojan Hodak’s men in the 88th minute.
With 15 wins in a row, JDT are comfortably at the top of the league with 45 points while KL City fell one spot to the seventh position with 23 points. – Bernama, July 4, 2023
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