2021 Malaysia Super League

The 2021 Malaysia Super League (Malay: Liga Super Malaysia 2021), was the 18th season of the Malaysia Super League, the top-tier professional football league in Malaysia.

Liga Super Malaysia
Season2021
Dates5 March – 12 September 2021
ChampionsJohor Darul Ta'zim
8th Super League title
8th Liga M title
RelegatedPerak
UiTM
AFC Champions LeagueJohor Darul Ta'zim
AFC CupKedah Darul Aman
Kuala Lumpur City (as 2021 Malaysia Cup winners)
Matches played132
Goals scored357 (2.7 per match)
Top goalscorerIfedayo Olusegun
(26 goals)
Biggest home win5 goals
Sri Pahang 5–0 UiTM
(1 May 2021)
Terengganu 5–0 Perak
(24 July 2021)
Johor Darul Ta'zim 5–0 Perak
(31 July 2021)
Biggest away win6 goals
Sabah 0–6 Selangor
(5 September 2021)
Highest scoring8 goals
Perak 3–5 Penang
(3 August 2021)
Longest winning run11 matches
Johor Darul Ta'zim
Longest unbeaten run12 matches
Johor Darul Ta'zim
Longest winless run16 matches
UiTM
Longest losing run8 matches
UiTM
Total attendance0
Average attendance0
2020
2022

The defending champions from the 2020 Malaysia Super League season, Johor Darul Ta'zim, have managed to defend their title, securing their 8th consecutive title (since 2014) on 28 August 2021 although having 2 more matches left.[1] On the other hand, Kedah who became the runner-ups have qualified to the 2022 AFC Cup. Penang who got third was a standby team for the AFC Cup and would qualify if the winners of the 2021 Malaysia Cup went to the Johor or Kedah, but they failed to and Kuala Lumpur City who became the champions ended up taking the spot.[2]

Teams

Changes from last season

Team changes

Promoted from the 2020 Malaysia Premier League

Relegated to the 2021 Malaysia Premier League

Disbanded Team

Renamed/Rebranded Clubs

Clubs locations

TeamLocationStadiumCapacity
Johor Darul Ta'zimIskandar PuteriSultan Ibrahim Stadium40,000[3]
Kedah Darul AmanAlor SetarDarul Aman Stadium32,387[4]
Kuala Lumpur CityKuala LumpurKuala Lumpur Stadium18,000
Melaka UnitedKrubongHang Jebat Stadium40,000[5]
PenangPenangCity Stadium20,000
PerakIpohPerak Stadium42,500[6]
Petaling Jaya CityPetaling JayaPetaling Jaya Stadium25,000
SabahKota KinabaluLikas Stadium35,000[7]
SelangorPetaling JayaPetaling Jaya Stadium25,000
Sri PahangKuantanDarul Makmur Stadium40,000[8]
TerengganuKuala TerengganuSultan Mizan Zainal Abidin Stadium50,000[9]
UiTMShah AlamUiTM Stadium10,000[10]
Source:[1]

Personnel, kit and sponsoring

TeamHead coachCaptainKit manufacturerMain sponsor
Johor Darul Ta'zim Benjamin Mora Aidil ZafuanNike[11]UNICEF
Kedah Darul Aman Aidil Sharin Baddrol BakhtiarLottoWidad Langkasuka
Kuala Lumpur City Bojan Hodak Paulo JosuéPumaKuala Lumpur City
Melaka United Zainal Abidin Hassan Khairul FahmiAl-IkhsanEDRA CGN, Mamee
Penang Tomáš Trucha EndrickPumaPenang2030 Archived 2021-06-05 at the Wayback Machine
Perak Shahril Nizam Khalil (caretaker) Hafizul HakimKaki JersiLenggong Valley (home) & Royal Belum (away)
Petaling Jaya City Maniam Pachaiappan Gurusamy KandasamyPumaQnet
Sabah Ong Kim Swee Rawilson BatuilLottoWarisan Harta Sabah, Sabah Net
Selangor Karsten Neitzel Syahmi SafariJomaPKNS
Sri Pahang Dollah Salleh Hérold GoulonStallionAras Kuasa Archived 2021-05-09 at the Wayback Machine
Terengganu Nafuzi Zain Carli de MurgaAl-IkhsanRedONE, Yakult
UiTM Reduan Abdullah Victor NirennoldPuma (home & away) & Fitech (third)MBSA

Coaching changes

Note: Flags indicate national team as has been defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

TeamOutgoing coachManner of departureDate of vacancyPosition in tableIncoming coachDate of
appointment
Selangor Michael FeichtenbeinerRedesignated to Technical Director16 November 2020Pre-season Karsten Neitzel[12]16 November 2020
Kuala Lumpur City Muhammad Nidzam AdzhaRedesignated to Assistant Coach26 November 2020 Simón Elissetche[13]26 November 2020
Petaling Jaya City K. DevanEnd of contract[14]28 November 2020 Maniam Pachaiappan[15]28 November 2020
Sabah Kurniawan Dwi YuliantoEnd of contract3 December 2020 Lucas Kalang Laeng[16]3 December 2020
Penang Manzoor AzwiraRedesignated to Assistant Coach4 December 2020 Tomáš Trucha[17]4 December 2020
Sri Pahang Dollah SallehRedesignated as Team Manager3 January 2021 Thomas Dooley[18]3 January 2021
Sabah Lucas Kalang LaengRedesignated as backroom staff[19]20 December 2020 Kurniawan Dwi Yulianto[20]8 January 2021
Kuala Lumpur City Simón ElissetcheNo permit granted8 January 2021 Bojan Hodak[21]9 January 2021
Perak Mehmet DurakovićMutual Termination[22]22 February 2021 Chong Yee Fatt23 February 2021
Sri Pahang Thomas DooleyRested[23]17 March 20219th Dollah Salleh17 March 2021
UiTM Frank BernhardtRested[24]9 April 202112th Reduan Abdullah9 April 2021
UiTM Reduan AbdullahRedesignated29 April 202112th Frank Bernhardt29 April 2021
Perak Chong Yee FattRested2 Aug 202111th Shahril Nizam Khalil2 Aug 2021
UiTM Frank BernhardtSacked9 August 202114th Reduan Abdullah9 August 2021

Foreign players

Southeast Asia (SEA) players are required to have acquired at least 30 international caps for their senior national team with no period restriction on when they are earned while those who has less than 30 international caps will be subjected to MFL approval.

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one FIFA and non-FIFA nationality.

TeamPlayer 1Player 2Player 3Asian PlayerASEAN PlayerFormer Players 1
Johor Darul Ta'zim Maurício Bergson Leandro Velazquez Gonzalo Cabrera Syahrian Abimanyu Hariss Harun
Kedah Darul Aman Renan Alves Kipré Tchétché Kpah Sherman Rabih Ataya Anumanthan Kumar
Kuala Lumpur City Romel Morales Paulo Josué Kyrian Nwabueze Giancarlo Gallifuoco Kevin Ray Mendoza Dominique Da Sylva
Melaka United Giovane Gomes Adriano Sony Norde Jang Suk-won Manuel Ott
Penang Rafael Vitor Endrick Casagrande Sheriddin Boboev Ryuji Utomo
Perak Nana Poku Ezequiel Agüero Careca Jad Noureddine Zoubairou Garba Shakir Hamzah
Leandro
Petaling Jaya City
Sabah Risto Mitrevski Levy Madinda Josip Ivančić Park Tae-soo Saddil Ramdani Sam Johnson
Selangor Tim Heubach Manuel Konrad Oliver Buff Ifedayo Olusegun Safuwan Baharudin
Sri Pahang Hérold Goulon Yakubu Abubakar Manuel Hidalgo Kenny Athiu Aung Kaung Mann Pedro Henrique
Mamadou Wague
Yevhen Bokhashvili
Lee Tuck
Terengganu David da Silva Makan Konaté Lee Tuck Habib Haroon Carli de Murga Petrus Shitembi
Chris Herd
UiTM Joel Vinicius Victor Nirennold Ousmane Fané Kwon Yong-hyun Dennis Buschening Adam Reed
Nana Poku
Abou Bakr Al-Mel
Dominik Picak
João Pedro
  • Players name in bold indicates the player is registered during the mid-season transfer window.
  • ^1 Foreign players who left their clubs or were de-registered from playing squad due to medical issues or other matters.

Naturalisation players

ClubPlayer 1Player 2Player 3Player 4Player 5
Johor Darul Ta'zim Matthew Davies2 3 La'Vere Corbin-Ong2 3 Natxo Insa2 3 Mohamadou Sumareh3 Guilherme De Paula3
Kedah Darul Aman Tam Sheang Tsung2
Kuala Lumpur City Daniel Ting2 Julian Bechler2 Ryan Lambert2 Luke Tan Xian2
Penang Samuel Somerville2 Quentin Cheng2 David Rowley2
Petaling Jaya City Darren Lok2 3
Selangor Brendan Gan2 3

Notes:

^2 Carrying Malaysian heritage.
^3 Participated in the Malaysia national team squad.

League table

PosTeamPldWDLGFGAGDPtsQualification or relegation
1Johor Darul Ta'zim (C)221831509+4157Qualification for AFC Champions League group stage
2Kedah Darul Aman2213454428+1643Qualification for AFC Cup group stage
3Penang2212553730+741
4Terengganu2211563320+1338
5Selangor2210664530+1536
6Kuala Lumpur City228952720+733[a]Qualification for AFC Cup group stage
7Petaling Jaya City2266101628−1224
8Melaka United225982531−621[b]
9Sabah2247112138−1719
10Sri Pahang2246122337−1418
11Perak (R)2244142045−2516Relegation to Malaysia Premier League
12UiTM (R)2234151641−2513
Source: Malaysian Football League
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Number of goals scored.
(C) Champions; (R) Relegated
Notes:


Result table

Home \ AwayJDTKEDKULMELPENPRKPJCSBHSELPAHTERUiTM
Johor Darul Ta'zim2–02–13–02–05–03–02–01–13–00–13–1
Kedah Darul Aman0–13–24–14–11–03–12–02–43–11–23–3
Kuala Lumpur City1–12–11–13–13–01–00–01–12–11–01–0
Melaka United0–11–32–11–22–10–01–12–30–02–01–1
Penang0–31–11–02–12–12–11–11–43–02–20–0
Perak2–21–10–00–13–50–02–10–32–30–23–2
Petaling Jaya City0–21–52–22–21–10–11–01–21–00–31–0
Sabah1–40–11–13–10–32–10–10–62–22–14–0
Selangor1–31–21–11–10–23–11–22–23–11–22–0
Sri Pahang0–22–20–21–11–20–21–02–12–21–15–0
Terengganu0–11–21–01–11–45–00–00–03–12–03–0
UiTM0–40–11–10–30–12–00–14–00–21–01–2
Source: MFL
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.
For upcoming matches, an "a" indicates there is an article about the rivalry between the two participants.

Positions by round

The table lists the positions of teams after each week of matches.
In order to preserve chronological evolvements, any postponed matches are not included to the round at which they were originally scheduled but added to the full round they were played immediately afterward.

Team ╲ Round12345678910111213141516171819202122
Johor Darul Ta'zim2111111111111111111111
Kedah Darul Aman12554322233233333443222
Penang4787443444344444334433
Terengganu3222234322422222222344
Petaling Jaya8936555776688778888887
Kuala Lumpur City10673566567766666666666
Selangor1445777655555555555555
Perak73610898891010910111111111111111111
Sri Pahang111211911119111111111199109991091010
Sabah6101011108101088877887777799
Melaka United58989101191099101110910101091078
UiTM9111212121212121212121212121212121212121212
Leader
Relegation to 2022 Premier League
Source: MFL

Season statistics

  • Most goals scored by one player in a match: 3 goals
    • (All players who got a hatrick)
  • Widest winning margin: 6 goals
  • Most goals in a match: 8 goals
  • Most goals in one half: 6 goals
    • Perak vs Penang (3 August 2021) 2–4 at half time, 3–5 final
  • Most goals in one half by a single team: 4 goals

Top goalscorers

As of matches played 12 September 2021[26]
RankPlayerClubGoals[27]
1 Ifedayo OlusegunSelangor26
2 Bergson da SilvaJohor Darul Ta'zim23
3 Kpah ShermanKedah Darul Aman13
4 CasagrandePenang12
5 Kipré TchétchéKedah Darul Aman10
Paulo JosuéKuala Lumpur City
7 David da SilvaTerengganu7
Baddrol BakhtiarKedah Darul Aman
Nana PokuUiTM/Perak
10 Oliver BuffSelangor6
Sheriddin BoboevPenang

Hat-trick

As of matches played 12 September 2021
PlayerForAgainstResultDate
Ifedayo OlusegunSelangorPerak3–1 (H)10 April 2021
Bergson da SilvaJohor Darul Ta'zimPerak5–0 (H)31 July 2021
Rafael VitorPenangPerak5–3 (A)3 August 2021
Nana PokuPerakPenang3–5 (H)3 August 2021
Ifedayo OlusegunSelangorKedah Darul Aman4–2 (A)14 August 2021
Bergson da SilvaJohor Darul Ta'zimSri Pahang3–0 (H)27 August 2021
Ifedayo OlusegunSelangorSabah6–0 (A)5 September 2021

Notes(H) – Home team(A) – Away team

Top assists

As of matches played 12 September 2021
RankPlayerClubAssists
1 Kipre TchetcheKedah Darul Aman14
2 EndrickPenang11
3 Safiq RahimJohor Darul Ta'zim8
Oliver BuffSelangor
5 Paulo JosuéKuala Lumpur City7
CasagrandePenang
7 Gonzalo CabreraJohor Darul Ta'zim6
Hein Htet AungSelangor
Makan KonateTerengganu
Sony NordeMelaka United

Clean Sheets

As of matches played 12 September 2021
RankPlayerClubClean sheets
1

Farizal Marlias

Johor Darul Ta'zim11
2 Suhaimi HusinTerengganu8
Kalamullah Al-HafizPetaling Jaya City
4 Kevin Ray MendozaKuala Lumpur City7
5 Sam SomervillePenang6

Discipline

As of matches played 12 September 2021

Overall

Players

Club

  • Most yellow cards: 4

See also

References

External links