KUALA LUMPUR: Melaka United caretaker coach Asri Ninggal believes Johor Darul Ta'zim (JDT) are lucky to have striker Bergson da Silva.
The Brazilian ended Melaka's hopes of reaching the FA Cup semi-finals when he scored in stoppage time in Saturday's 2-1 win at Hang Jebat Stadium.
Da Silva has scored 20 goals in all competitions this season.
Asri said JDT are nothing without the 31-year-old da Silva.
"Da Silva is the best striker in the M-League. The striker showed everyone in the FA Cup why he is an important player to JDT.
"If you give da Silva a chance, he will score. We are unhappy with our defeat to JDT. We lacked focus in the closing stages of the match."
Thanks to da Silva, JDT are not only at the top of the Super League standings but are in the last-16 of the Asian Champions League and the semi-finals of the FA Cup.
Da Silva leads the top scorers' list in the Super League with 13 goals, followed by Selangor's Herlison Caion (10 goals), JDT's Fernando Forestieri (nine), Kedah's Ronald Ngah (eight), Sabah's Park Tae Su (five) and PJ City's Darren Lok (five).