ISKANDAR PUTERI: BG Pathum United of Thailand admitted that the video assistant referee (VAR) played a big part in his team’s downfall as they succumbed 4-1 to Johor Darul Ta’zim (JDT) during their Asian Champions League (ACL) Group I match at the Sultan Ibrahim Stadium here last night.
Coach Surachai Jaturapattarapong claimed that his men performed well in the first half to lead through a 28th-minute Igor Sergeev goal and keep the Southern Tigers at bay.
However, the match turned on its head in the 55th minute when referee Ma Ning, upon consultation with the VAR team and viewing the pitchside monitor, awarded the Southern Tigers a penalty for an alleged handball by Danilo Alves, who was also given the marching orders.
Bergson Da Silva stepped up to make it 1-1 from the spot before adding the second in the 66th minute. Hendrick Dos Santos then made it 3-1 in the 86th minute before Arif Aiman Hanapi completed the fightback with goal number four in the final minutes of the game.
“Although it was not so obvious after watching the incident, we had to accept the (VAR’s) decision and play with 10 men for 40 minutes in the second half. That affected us.
“This is a difficult task because we have to face an opponent who have a great tactical game and players like Heberty (Fernandes), Bergson (Da Silva) and Arif Aiman (Hanapi). I had to make some tactical tweaks but it was still difficult to hold them back,” Jaturapattarapong told the post-match press conference yesterday.
He, however, vowed that the club would bounce back in the next ACL competition with a better team and better tactical nous.
He said BG Pathum United were unlucky this year after being placed in the ‘Group of Death’, which comprised Korean League 1 champions Ulsan Hyundai, Japanese League 1 runners-up Kawasaki Frontale and Malaysian Super League champions JDT.
“We started (the campaign) on the backfoot when we lost some key players.
“In addition, we also faced strong opponents. So, we are determined to rise again next season by improving the team’s tactics and strategies as well as paying full attention to each match and avoiding making simple mistakes,” he said.
The Thai team ended their Group I campaign without a win after losing all their matches to JDT, Ulsan Hyundai and Kawasaki Frontale.
Meanwhile, JDT coach Esteban Solari was pleased with the way his men fought back in the second half.
“We played against a very good team and it was a difficult game. In the first, we struggled a bit but we managed to fight back after the break and scored the goals.
“I’m so happy for the team because we beat BG Pathum twice and, in this game, we scored four goals. That means that the players did a very good job and I am proud of them,” he said.
The win enabled JDT to accumulate nine points to finish third in the group, behind Kawasaki Frontale (16 points) and Ulsan Hyundai (10 points). BG Pathum United propped up the group with zero points. – BERNAMA
