KUALA LUMPUR — Johor Darul Ta’zim’s Juan Muniz Gallego revealed that he had a tough time going against Kuala Lumpur City FC’s defence in his side’s third Malaysia Super League match yesterday.
The Southern Tigers thrashed the City Boys 5-1 at the Kuala Lumpur Football Stadium, with Gallego contributing two assists and two goals.
The 32-year-old Spaniard joined JDT from Atromitos FC, which competes in the Greek Super League, for a fee of €400,000 (RM 2,031,937.36) according to www.transfermarkt.com.
The winger, who has a total of 342 career appearances since making his debut for Sporting Gijon FC in 2009, has also played for Spain’s under-17 and under-19 teams between 2008 and 2011.
Speaking to reporters after the match, Gallego expressed delight that his free-kick technique finally worked after failing to hit the target in his side’s opening-day encounter against Negri Sembilan FC last week.
For the record, JDT won 3-1 against Negeri Sembilan on May 18.
He credited his calmness for helping him overcome the defensive pressure of KL City.
“I’m happy to have scored two goals and provided two assists against such a strong opponent like KL City. Their defenders were really tough to play against.
“It was a challenge for us to get past them in the opening 45 minutes. I tried all sorts of things to break down their defence, and I’m happy that my efforts finally worked.
“More than that, I’m happy to score a goal through a free-kick after missing so many attempts in my first game against Negeri Sembilan at the Sultan Ibrahim Stadium last week.
“I might have been nervous because of playing in front of the home fans last week, but I was calmer against KL City, which helped me give my best performance. I hope to maintain this form for the rest of the season,” said Gallego.
Meanwhile, JDT head coach Hector Bidoglio demands more from his side for their upcoming games in the Super League campaign and believes that his squad has only reached 50% of the level needed to be an excellent team.
“It was a good performance from our side, but we could only score twice in the first half. We were much better in the second half as we were quicker and our responses were better.
“After we conceded in the first half, I told my boys that we needed to win this game with more than three goals if we hoped to kill our opponents. Having lots of possession is nothing if we don’t score more.
“I’m never comfortable with my team, and as a coach, I want more. But I can ensure that our squad will be better every week. I see the players working hard in training, and I hope to see a much better JDT in the days to come.
“We are just 50% on the excellence level scale. We are JDT, and we need to improve every day. I have a great responsibility with this job,” said Bidoglio during a post-match conference yesterday.
The 55-year-old Bidoglio has a track record of winning the treble in 2022 (Super League, Malaysia Cup, and FA Cup) with JDT.
JDT currently tops the Super League table with nine points from three games. — May 26, 2024