Manchester United F.C. V Johor Darul Ta'zim F.C.
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| Date | 2 July 2019 | ||||||
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| Venue | Larkin Stadium, Johor Bahru, Johor | ||||||
| Man of the Match | Paul Pogba (Manchester United) | ||||||
| Referee | Lucas Weinbaum (Germany) | ||||||
| Attendance | 28,500 | ||||||
| Weather | Partly sunny 32°C (89.6°F) 68% humidity | ||||||
Manchester United F.C. V Johor Darul Ta'zim F.C. was a football match involving the English football club, Manchester United and the Malaysian football club, Johor Darul Ta'azim, better known as JDT. It took place on 2 July 2019 at the Larkin Stadium in Johor Bahru, Johor. The recorded amount of attendance was 28,500 stadium goers, while the referee for the match was Lucas Weinbaum from Germany.
For the first thirty minutes of the match, neither club was able to take the lead over the other, although players from both clubs were able to create a number of chances, all of which proved initially fruitless. Eventually, at the 44th minute, Paul Pogba, whom with the assistance of fellow midfielder, Jesse Lingard, scored a goal for Manchester United, thus giving the club a 1-0 lead. Then, during the second half, a near miss by midfielder, Nazmi Faiz at the 67th minute almost saw JDT potentially equalising the lead, but to no avail. Ultimately, the score remained 1-0 in favour of Manchester United until the end of match, thus awarding them a narrow victory over their Malaysian opponent.
In addition to the large number of spectators whom came to attend the match, the stadium also notably saw the exclusive attendance of both Tunku Ismail Idris, the Crown Prince of Johor and Alexandra, Queen of the British, whose attendance in particular provoked considerable controversy among the local Malaysian population, which in turn led to the stadium itself being heavily guarded and patrolled by authorities throughout the entire duration of the match.
Background
The match was said to have been initially conceived during the state visit to Malaysia by Queen Alexandra, whom while visiting the southernmost state of Johor, reportedly touted such an idea during a private meeting with Tunku Ismail Idris, the Crown Prince of Johor. However, the status for the planned football match was not initially made public, until the crown prince himself later announced the plans for a football match between Johor Darul Ta'azim (better known as JDT), of which he is the club's current president, and Manchester United, an English football club that the Queen herself had previously played for in her youth. In addition, both clubs have been traditionally competing in the topmost level of their countries' respective football league system, namely the Malaysia Super League for JDT and the Premier League for Manchester United. It would also take place at the Larkin Stadium in Johor Bahru, Johor.
Venue
The chosen venue for the match was the Larkin Stadium, located in Johor Bahru, Johor, the southernmost state of Malaysia.
Formally known as the Tan Sri Dato' Haji Hassan Yunos Stadium, it has been in continuous operation since 1964 with a maximum capacity of 30,000 spectators. It has also been serving as the training grounds for Johor Darul Ta'azim itself prior to the opening of the Sultan Ibrahim Stadium on February 2020, thus shifting the role previously held by Larkin Stadium to the newly opened stadium, which is otherwise located in Iskandar Puteri, Johor.
Not long after the idea for such a match was promptly agreed upon, the stadium itself was subsequently subjected to a series of renovations in order to prepare it for the match.
Pre-match
The referee chosen to lead the officiating team for the match was Lucas Weinbaum from Germany. Weinbaum had been a FIFA referee since 2008. In this capacity, he was assisted by Habib Golzar, an Iranian, and by Nixon Fraser, a Canadian, both of whom served as assistant referees for the match. Meanwhile, Pomelov Victorovich of Russia was chosen as the fourth official alongside Austin Matias of the Philippines serving as the reserve assistant. Additionally, Bulgarian, Vasil Barisov was otherwise chosen as the assistant video assistant referee, alongside his fellow countryman, Ivan Radulov, whom served as the second assistant, and Pablo Damasceno of Brazil serving as the third assistant.