KUALA LUMPUR; Johor Darul Ta'zim (JDT) coach Hector Bidoglio hailed his side's fighting spirit after their 10-man team beat Kedah 3-1 in the Super League on Tuesday at Darulaman Stadium.
Kedah had taken a 1-0 lead through Ronald Ngah in the 12th minute but Bergson Da Silva scored JDT's equaliser in the 36th minute.
Just before half time, JDT found themselves reduced to 10 men after Da Silva was shown the red card for punching Kedah defender Rodney Celvin.
Despite being outnumbered, the Southern Tigers were not flustered as they exerted control on the match with Leandro Velazquez scoring a penalty (60th minute) and Afiq Fazail (79th) on target.
Argentine coach Bidoglio, who declined to comment on Da Silva's expulsion, said: "The match showed what JDT are. Although we won the Super League a few days ago, the players were still highly committed.
"This is why JDT are the best club in Malaysia."
JDT had kicked off Tuesday's match as the newly crowned Super League champions having taken an unassailable lead by beating Negri Sembilan 5-0 while their nearest challengers Sabah dropped points after a 2-0 loss to Terengganu.
However, Bidoglio admitted that his men struggled to get their rhythm in the first half.
"In the first half we were not organised. We could not find the space and made mistakes.
"We improved in the second half and played the way we should. We controlled the match after changing our playing style," he said.