'It was a tough fight,' says Figueroa of JDT's 2-0 victory over Felda United

MARAN, May 5 (Bernama) -- Johor Darul Ta'zim head coach Luciano Gabriel Figueroa admitted it was tough for his side to penetrate the Felda United defence, despite the final result being 2-0 in their favour in the Super League match played at the Tun Abdul Razak Stadium here last night.

He said the resistance from the ‘The Fighters’ meant his players needed to work extra hard to force an error in the penalty box which resulted in the opening goal.

"It was a good match for JDT because we controlled the game for 90 minutes. But I admit, it was very difficult to penetrate the opponent's defence.

"All of their players were defending in their half of the field which forced us to carry out continuous attacks," he told reporters after the match.

Import player Diogo Luis Santo scored a brace for JDT through a penalty kick in the 38th minute another in the 61st minute.

Figueroa said last night's victory also strengthened the Southern Tigers’ position at the top of the Super League table, especially after closest rivals Pahang lost to Petaling Jaya (PJ) City.

"With this victory, we are five points clear at the top, and of course, it is a motivation for us to continue to focus and continue remaining at the top of the league," he said.

Meanwhile, Felda United coach Mohd Nidzam Jamil said his team’s performance was affected after JDT’s first goal.

"If we play with big clubs like JDT, we cannot afford to make simple mistakes and be punished with a goal. We tried to switch tactics and play more openly, but we can’t do too much of that either as we were punished with JDT's second goal," he said.

Despite the loss, Mohd Nidzam was optimistic The Fighters will bounce back in the next Super League match.

-- BERNAMA