Johor Darul Ta'zim 1-1 Pelita Bandung Raya: Safee Sali rescues Southern Tigers in friendly clash

The Malaysian international equalized for Cesare Jimenez's side in the second half, to secure a 1-1 draw in their international friendly match against the Indonesian side

Johor Darul Ta'zim fielded a strong side from the offset, with names like Pablo Aimar, Amirulhadi Zainal and Baihakki Khaizan all featuring. And they predictably started the game with hunger and intensity. Luciano Figueroa led the line for them while Norazlan Razali stood in between their sticks.

However, Pelita Bandung Raya grew in confidence as the match progressed and soon enough, it was an even fixture. The Indonesian side carved out several opportunities, though the defensive partnership of Baihakki and Aidil stood strong to withstand the offense. Bambang Pamungkas was visibly a dominating presence on the field.

But despite attempts from both sides, Pelita Bandung ultimately broke the deadlock just before half time, by seizing the lead courtesy of a well taken goal. It certainly made last minute changes to the pep talk that Cesare Jimenez was planning to give, thought whatever that ultimately came out of the Spaniard did have an effect to a certain extent.

Johor Darul Ta'zim were much more solid after the break, with Norshahrul Idlan coming on for Amirulhadi. They began to spray passes more effectively and started to look more like a team. One thing that was visible from last night if the presence of immense quality within the team, though team chemistry seems to be the niggling issue.

Regardless of that, the Southern Tigers kept pushing hard, and their reward ultimately arrived on the 75th minute mark, as Safee Sali, who had been introduced midway through the second half, fired home to equalize for the home side.

After the equalizer, Johor continued pushing on the offensive althought the score line ultimately remained. Despite the draw, the game was precisely what the Johor Darul Takzim players needed, as they seek to continue strengthening the team chemistry. If anything, it will be interesting to see how well they perform, when the league kicks off later this month.

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