24/02/2026

SPORTS TUESDAY | FEB 24, 2026 31 JDT extend winning streak … while Pan Gon’s Red Giants down Kuching, City Boys beat DPMM M ALAYSIAN Super League defending champions Johor Darul Ta’zim (JDT) extended their winning streak to 17 matches after routing Sabah 6-1 at more open, with the home team having several opportunities to score. “It’s important for us to evaluate that and try to play consistently throughout the 90 minutes because it’s important to control the situation,” he said. lacking. “There were chances in the first half, but the determination was not enough. In the second half, it was still a struggle. Kuching had very good counter-attacks as usual, as we know,” he told a post-match press conference.

RESULTS & STANDINGS

ENGLISH LEAGUE: Nottingham Forest 0 Liverpool 1 (Mac Allister 90+7) , Crystal Palace 1 (Guessand 90) Wolves 0, Sunderland 1 (Le Fee 76-pen) Fulham 3 (Jimenez 54, 61-pen, Iwobi 85) , Tottenham 1 (Kolo Muani 34) Arsenal 4 (Eze 32, 61, Gyokeres 47, 90+4) . P W D L F A Pts Arsenal 28 18 7 3 56 21 61 Man City 27 17 5 5 56 25 56 Aston Villa 27 15 6 6 38 28 51 Chelsea 27 12 9 6 48 31 45 Man Utd 26 12 9 5 47 37 45 Liverpool 27 13 6 8 42 35 45 Brentford 27 12 4 11 40 37 40 Bournemouth 27 9 11 7 43 45 38 Everton 26 10 7 9 29 30 37 Fulham 27 11 4 12 38 41 37 Newcastle 27 10 6 11 38 39 36 Sunderland 27 9 9 9 28 33 36 Crystal Palace 27 9 8 10 29 32 35 Brighton 27 8 10 9 36 34 34 Leeds 27 7 10 10 37 46 31 Tottenham 27 7 8 1237 41 29 Nottm Forest 27 7 6 14 25 39 27 West Ham 27 6 7 1432 49 25 Burnley 27 4 7 1629 52 19 Wolves 28 1 7 2018 51 10 CHAMPIONSHIP: Sheffield United 2 Sheffield Wednesday 1. TOP 6 P W D L F A Pts Coventry 33 19 8 6 68 36 65 Mid’boro 33 18 8 7 50 33 62 Millwall 33 16 8 9 42 40 56 Ipswich 31 15 9 7 54 34 54 Hull 32 16 6 10 51 46 54 Wrexham 33 13 12 8 51 44 51 LA LIGA: Getafe 0 Sevilla 1 (Sow 64) , Barcelona 3 (Bernal 4, De Jong 32, Lopez 81) Levante 0, Celta Vigo 2 (Aspas 85-pen, 90+5) Real Mallorca 0, Villarreal 2 (Comesana 31, Gueye 45+6 pen) Valencia 1 (Ramazani 27-pen) . TOP 6 P W D L F A PTS Barcelona 25 20 1 4 67 25 61 Real Madrid 25 19 3 3 54 21 60 Villarreal 25 16 3 6 47 27 51 Atletico 25 14 6 5 42 23 48 Real Betis 25 11 9 5 40 30 42 Celta Vigo 25 9 10 6 34 27 37 SERIE A: Genoa 3 (Norton-Cuffy 22, Ekuban 40, Messias 83) Torino 0, Atalanta 2 (Pasalic 61, Samardzic 81) Napoli 1 (Beukema 18) , AC Milan 0 Parma 1 (Troilo 80) , Roma 3 (Cristante 59, Ndicka 77, Pisilli 86) Cremonese 0. TOP 6 P W D L F A PTS Inter Milan 26 21 1 4 62 21 64 AC Milan 26 15 9 2 41 20 54 Roma 25 16 2 8 34 16 50 Napoli 26 15 5 6 39 27 50 Juventus 26 13 7 6 43 25 46 Como 26 12 9 5 41 19 45 BUNDESLIGA: Heidenheim 3 Stutt gart 3, St Pauli 2 Werder Bremen 1, Freiburg 2 Borussia Moenchenglad bach 1. TOP 6 P W D L F A PTS B. Munich 23 19 3 1 85 21 60 Dortmund 23 15 7 1 49 22 52 Hoffenheim 23 14 4 5 49 30 46 Stuttgart 23 13 4 6 44 32 43 RB Leipzig 23 12 5 6 44 32 41 Leverkusen 22 12 3 7 43 28 39 FRENCH LIGUE 1: Auxerre 0 Rennes 3, Nice 3 Lorient 3, Nantes 2 Le Havre 0, Angers 0 Lille 1, Strasbourg 3 Lyon 1. TOP 6 P W D L F A PTS Paris SG 23 17 3 3 52 19 54 Lens 23 17 1 5 44 20 52 Lyon 23 14 3 6 37 23 45 Marseille 23 12 4 7 48 31 40 Lille 23 11 4 8 36 31 37 Rennes 23 10 7 6 37 35 37 PREMIER

Likas Stadium, Kota Kinabalu on Sunday night. JDT’s first goal came from a penalty by Brazilian striker Bergson Da Silva in the seventh minute after Sabah’s Dane Ingham committed a foul in the fifth minute, while Ajdin Mujagic scored the team’s second in the 20th minute. Oscar Aribas scored another four minutes later, and Ajdin found the net again in the 38th to end the first half 4-0 ahead. JDT’s final two goals of the match came from Manuel Hidalgo (46’) and a second goal from Oscar (48’), while Sabah’s consolation goal was scored by Chris Marlon Ondong-Mba in the 87th minute. JDT head coach Xisco Munoz said the match was divided into two phases, with 65 minutes in favour of his team, while the remaining 25 minutes were in favour of the home side. “This game had two phases and I think for 65 minutes of the whole game it was in our favour … we scored six goals in that period. “We played at a very good level, with great intensity but in the last 20 minutes of the game we lost control,” he said at a press conference after the match. Munoz described the match with The Rhinos as

Despite the difficulties, Pan Gon praised his players’ mentality, particularly their persistence until the final whistle. “I think our players showed very good determi nation in the second half. Until the last minute, we were still creating chances and trying to put the ball in. I appreciate the players’ mental strength and teamwork.” Pan Gon also described Kuching as one of the tougher opponents in the Malaysia Super League, cautioning that any lapse in concentration could have proved costly. “They are a good team – very good as a team and also individually. If we had no concentration, if we were casual, we would (be) finished. Because they are a good team. I think we also had a little bit of luck.” With more crucial fixtures ahead, including cup commitments, Pan Gon said Selangor will look to maintain the same mentality and fighting spirit as the season approaches its decisive stage. “We will maintain this mentality and spirit. We will continue to fight,” he said. – Bernama/Agencies

He also described the match in the second half as different from the first half when JDT players were putting less pressure on the home team as the minutes of the game drew to a close. In other Super League matches on Sunday, Selangor FC beat Kuching City FC 1-0 at Petaling Jaya City Council Stadium with Chrigor Moraes scoring in the 86th minute while Kuala Lumpur City FC beat DPMM 4-0 at Kuala Lumpur City Stadium with the goals being scored by Muhammad Safawi Rasid (ninth) (18’), Paulo Josue (61’) and Victor Ruiz (70’). Red Giants head coach Kim Pan Gon acknowl edged that his team were pushed all the way by a disciplined and dangerous Kuching outfit “It was very tough, very tough,” admitted Pan Gon after Sunday’s victory kept his team in second place. “Kuching are normally a very attacking team, but today they were a bit more passive against us. It was quite tough to create goal-scoring chances,” he said. Pan Gon noted that while Selangor had a few opportunities in the first half, the cutting edge was

MALAYSIA plans to revert the bowling competition to its tradi tional format for the 34th SEA Games, which will be hosted by the country in 2027. In addition to the format change, Malaysian Tenpin Bowling Congress (MTBC) secretary-general Maradona Chok said that there are plans to increase the number of events to the maximum allowed in a bid to ensure Malaysia remains a powerhouse in the region. “We will revert to the old format, where we play six games and then decide the winner,”he told reporters after attending a working commit tee meeting at the National Sports Council (NSC) in Bukit Jalil in Kuala Lumpur yesterday. “So we are going to follow the old SEA Games format and increase the number of events to the maxi mum,” he added. During the 33rd edition in Thailand in 2025, the hosts intro duced a revamped format where medals were decided through a one-game knockout matchplay sys tem. Despite the challenging format in Bangkok, Malaysia emerged as the overall bowling champions of the 2025 Games, their first such title since the 2017 edition. The national squad bagged two golds, one silver and four bronzes in the six categories contested to dethrone defending champions Singapore, who finished second with two golds and four bronzes. The 2027 SEA Games are sched uled to take place from Sept. 18 to 29, with events spread across four clusters, namely Sarawak, Penang, Johor and Kuala Lumpur. – Bernama Back to old format for SEA Games

Tekong Muhammad Syahir stays humble EXPERIENCED national Tekong Muhammad Syahir Mohd Rosdi, admits that he has not yet reached the level of standing alongside Thai leg end, Suebsak Phunsueb, despite being crowned the World’s Best Tekong.

Muhammad Syahir, who received the recognition from the International Sepaktakraw Federation (Istaf) last month, said he is still a long way from meeting the number of gold medals his idol has collected. “So far I haven’t achieved it yet because the number of gold medals I have won is still not comparable to him. “We know that the Thai skipper has a large collection of gold medals including those from the Asian Games and the SEA Games. So I am still not on par with him,” he said when met here, recently. “I have seen many challenges that I and the team have faced. To get to the level we are at now is not easy.” – Muhammad Syahir – The national squad’s top tekong was awarded the Certificate of Distinguished International Excel lence by Istaf in recognition of his out standing achievements on the inter national stage. According to Istaf, the 1.89m skip per received the certificate following his extraordinary performance as the “Best Tekong in the World”, especially after his excellent performance at the 2024 World Cup, 2025 Asian Cup and 2025 SEA Games. Muhammad Syahir led Malaysia to success in the regu events at the 2024 World Cup and 2025 Asian Cup, in

lenges that have shaped him as a player. “I have seen many challenges that I and the team have faced. To get to the level we are at now is not easy. “When we are at this level, we need to be more careful, keep work ing and always be alert to the oppos ing teams,” he said. – Bernama

addition to playing an important role in helping the national squad end their wait for a gold medal after defeating their arch opponent, Thailand, in the team and regu events at the 2025 SEA Games. The 29-year-old athlete said that throughout his nine years with the national squad, he faced various chal