SUPER LEAGUE: LEADERS JDT WORK HARD TO BEAT SRI PAHANG 3-1 AND MAINTAIN UNBEATEN RUN

KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 17 (Bernama) -- Defending champions Johor Darul Ta'zim (JDT) maintained their unbeaten record after a hard fought 3-1 victory over Sri Pahang FC in a Super League action at the Sultan Ibrahim Stadium in Iskandar Puteri tonight. 

The first half action ended without any goals after both teams failed to find the finishing touch before a mistake by Sri Pahang FC defender, Adam Nor Azlin saw him scoring an own goal to give JDT the advantage in the 48th minute.

Hector Bidoglio's side then came back to double the score through lethal striker Bergson Da Silva four minutes later. 

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Sri Pahang managed to reduce the deficit through David William Rowley's header after receiving a pass from Mykola Ahapov in the 53rd minute.

JDT however, restored the two-goal advantage when Bergson scored a penalty well into injury minute, after Arif Aiman Mohd Hanapi was brought down by Aleksandar Cvetkovic and the result remained 3-1 until the final whistle. 

Meanwhile, in the action at the Manjung Municipal Council Stadium (MPM) Selangor defeated Perak FC 2-1 to mantain the second place in the Super League table. 

Selangor managed to score the opening goal in the 41st minute through Alvin Fortes and he was again on target to score Selangor's second of the night in the 71st minute. 

Perak FC managed to score a consolation goal through experienced player Wan Zack Haikal in the 88th minute after receiving a pass from Firdaus Saiyadi. 

Selangor managed to score a third through Quentin Cheng in the final minute of the match but match referee Muhammad Nazmi Nasaruddin cancelled out the goal after referring to the VAR.

At the Kuala Lumpur Football Stadium in Cheras, Kuala Lumpur City FC (KL City) took advantage of playing at home by beating bottom of the table side Negeri Sembila FC (NSFC) 2-1.

Both KL City's goals were scored by Paulo Josue in the ninth minute and Brendan Gan three minutes later before NSFC managed to close the gap through Jacque Faye in the 36th. 

The result of tonight's action sees JDT remain at the top of the table with 46 points, ahead of Selangor (35 points) while Perak are in sixth place (18 points), followed by KL City in eighth place (17 points), and Sri Pahang are in ninth spot (15 points) while NSFC are rooted at the bottom of the table with (six points). 

-- BERNAMA