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 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.

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

2021 Malaysia Super League is located in Malaysia
Johor Darul Ta'zim
Kedah Darul Aman
Melaka United
Terengganu
Penang
Klang Valley
Perak
Sri Pahang
Sabah
Klang Valley teams UiTM Kuala Lumpur City Petaling Jaya City Selangor
Locations of teams in the 2021 Malaysia Super League
Team Location Stadium Capacity
Johor Darul Ta'zim Iskandar Puteri Sultan Ibrahim Stadium 40,000[3]
Kedah Darul Aman Alor Setar Darul Aman Stadium 32,387[4]
Kuala Lumpur City Kuala Lumpur Kuala Lumpur Stadium 18,000
Melaka United Krubong Hang Jebat Stadium 40,000[5]
Penang Penang City Stadium 20,000
Perak Ipoh Perak Stadium 42,500[6]
Petaling Jaya City Petaling Jaya Petaling Jaya Stadium 25,000
Sabah Kota Kinabalu Likas Stadium 35,000[7]
Selangor Petaling Jaya Petaling Jaya Stadium 25,000
Sri Pahang Kuantan Darul Makmur Stadium 40,000[8]
Terengganu Kuala Terengganu Sultan Mizan Zainal Abidin Stadium 50,000[9]
UiTM Shah Alam UiTM Stadium 10,000[10]
Source:[1]

Personnel, kit and sponsoring

Team Head coach Captain Kit manufacturer Main sponsor
Johor Darul Ta'zim Mexico Benjamin Mora Malaysia Aidil Zafuan Nike[11] UNICEF
Kedah Darul Aman Singapore Aidil Sharin Malaysia Baddrol Bakhtiar Lotto Widad Langkasuka
Kuala Lumpur City Croatia Bojan Hodak Brazil Paulo Josué Puma Kuala Lumpur City
Melaka United Malaysia Zainal Abidin Hassan Malaysia Khairul Fahmi Al-Ikhsan EDRA CGN, Mamee
Penang Czech Republic Tomáš Trucha Brazil Endrick Puma Penang2030 Archived 2021-06-05 at the Wayback Machine
Perak Malaysia Shahril Nizam Khalil (caretaker) Malaysia Hafizul Hakim Kaki Jersi Lenggong Valley (home) & Royal Belum (away)
Petaling Jaya City Malaysia Maniam Pachaiappan Malaysia Gurusamy Kandasamy Puma Qnet
Sabah Malaysia Ong Kim Swee Malaysia Rawilson Batuil Lotto Warisan Harta Sabah, Sabah Net
Selangor Germany Karsten Neitzel Malaysia Syahmi Safari Joma PKNS
Sri Pahang Malaysia Dollah Salleh France Hérold Goulon Stallion Aras Kuasa Archived 2021-05-09 at the Wayback Machine
Terengganu Malaysia Nafuzi Zain Philippines Carli de Murga Al-Ikhsan RedONE, Yakult
UiTM Malaysia Reduan Abdullah France Victor Nirennold Puma (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.

Team Outgoing coach Manner of departure Date of vacancy Position in table Incoming coach Date of
appointment
Selangor Germany Michael Feichtenbeiner Redesignated to Technical Director 16 November 2020 Pre-season Germany Karsten Neitzel[12] 16 November 2020
Kuala Lumpur City Malaysia Muhammad Nidzam Adzha Redesignated to Assistant Coach 26 November 2020 Chile Simón Elissetche[13] 26 November 2020
Petaling Jaya City Malaysia K. Devan End of contract[14] 28 November 2020 Malaysia Maniam Pachaiappan[15] 28 November 2020
Sabah Indonesia Kurniawan Dwi Yulianto End of contract 3 December 2020 Malaysia Lucas Kalang Laeng[16] 3 December 2020
Penang Malaysia Manzoor Azwira Redesignated to Assistant Coach 4 December 2020 Czech Republic Tomáš Trucha[17] 4 December 2020
Sri Pahang Malaysia Dollah Salleh Redesignated as Team Manager 3 January 2021 United States Thomas Dooley[18] 3 January 2021
Sabah Malaysia Lucas Kalang Laeng Redesignated as backroom staff[19] 20 December 2020 Indonesia Kurniawan Dwi Yulianto[20] 8 January 2021
Kuala Lumpur City Chile Simón Elissetche No permit granted 8 January 2021 Croatia Bojan Hodak[21] 9 January 2021
Perak Australia Mehmet Duraković Mutual Termination[22] 22 February 2021 Malaysia Chong Yee Fatt 23 February 2021
Sri Pahang United States Thomas Dooley Rested[23] 17 March 2021 9th Malaysia Dollah Salleh 17 March 2021
UiTM Germany Frank Bernhardt Rested[24] 9 April 2021 12th Malaysia Reduan Abdullah 9 April 2021
UiTM Malaysia Reduan Abdullah Redesignated 29 April 2021 12th Germany Frank Bernhardt 29 April 2021
Perak Malaysia Chong Yee Fatt Rested 2 Aug 2021 11th Malaysia Shahril Nizam Khalil 2 Aug 2021
UiTM Germany Frank Bernhardt Sacked 9 August 2021 14th Malaysia Reduan Abdullah 9 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.

Team Player 1 Player 2 Player 3 Asian Player ASEAN Player Former Players 1
Johor Darul Ta'zim Brazil Maurício Brazil Bergson Argentina Leandro Velazquez Argentina Iraq Gonzalo Cabrera Indonesia Syahrian Abimanyu Singapore Hariss Harun
Kedah Darul Aman Brazil Renan Alves Ivory Coast Kipré Tchétché Liberia Kpah Sherman Lebanon Rabih Ataya Singapore Anumanthan Kumar
Kuala Lumpur City Colombia Romel Morales Brazil Paulo Josué United States Kyrian Nwabueze Australia Giancarlo Gallifuoco Philippines Kevin Ray Mendoza Mauritania Dominique Da Sylva
Melaka United Brazil Giovane Gomes Brazil Adriano Haiti Sony Norde South Korea Jang Suk-won Philippines Manuel Ott
Penang Brazil Rafael Vitor Brazil Endrick Brazil Casagrande Tajikistan Sheriddin Boboev Indonesia Ryuji Utomo
Perak Ghana Nana Poku Argentina Ezequiel Agüero Brazil Careca Lebanon Jad Noureddine Indonesia Zoubairou Garba Singapore Shakir Hamzah
Brazil Leandro
Petaling Jaya City
Sabah North Macedonia Risto Mitrevski Gabon Levy Madinda Croatia Josip Ivančić South Korea Park Tae-soo Indonesia Saddil Ramdani Liberia Sam Johnson
Selangor Germany Tim Heubach Germany Manuel Konrad Switzerland Oliver Buff Bahrain Ifedayo Olusegun Singapore Safuwan Baharudin
Sri Pahang France Hérold Goulon Ghana Yakubu Abubakar Argentina Manuel Hidalgo Australia Kenny Athiu Myanmar Aung Kaung Mann East Timor Pedro Henrique
France Mamadou Wague
Ukraine Yevhen Bokhashvili
England Lee Tuck
Terengganu Brazil David da Silva Mali Makan Konaté England Lee Tuck Bahrain Habib Haroon Philippines Carli de Murga Namibia Petrus Shitembi
Australia Chris Herd
UiTM Brazil Joel Vinicius France Victor Nirennold France Ousmane Fané South Korea Kwon Yong-hyun Thailand Dennis Buschening Philippines Adam Reed
Ghana Nana Poku
Lebanon Abou Bakr Al-Mel
Croatia Dominik Picak
East Timor João Pedro

Naturalisation players

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

Notes:

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

League table

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification or relegation
1 Johor Darul Ta'zim (C) 22 18 3 1 50 9 +41 57 Qualification for AFC Champions League group stage
2 Kedah Darul Aman 22 13 4 5 44 28 +16 43 Qualification for AFC Cup group stage
3 Penang 22 12 5 5 37 30 +7 41
4 Terengganu 22 11 5 6 33 20 +13 38
5 Selangor 22 10 6 6 45 30 +15 36
6 Kuala Lumpur City 22 8 9 5 27 20 +7 33[a] Qualification for AFC Cup group stage
7 Petaling Jaya City 22 6 6 10 16 28 −12 24
8 Melaka United 22 5 9 8 25 31 −6 21[b]
9 Sabah 22 4 7 11 21 38 −17 19
10 Sri Pahang 22 4 6 12 23 37 −14 18
11 Perak (R) 22 4 4 14 20 45 −25 16 Relegation to Malaysia Premier League
12 UiTM (R) 22 3 4 15 16 41 −25 13
Source: Malaysian Football League
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Number of goals scored.
(C) Champions; (R) Relegated
Notes:
  1. ^ KL City qualified to 2022 AFC Cup as winner of 2021 Malaysia Cup
  2. ^ Melaka have been docked three points based on the following of the decision from FAM (Football Association of Malaysia).[25]


Result table

Home \ Away JDT KED KUL MEL PEN PRK PJC SBH SEL PAH TER UiTM
Johor Darul Ta'zim 2–0 2–1 3–0 2–0 5–0 3–0 2–0 1–1 3–0 0–1 3–1
Kedah Darul Aman 0–1 3–2 4–1 4–1 1–0 3–1 2–0 2–4 3–1 1–2 3–3
Kuala Lumpur City 1–1 2–1 1–1 3–1 3–0 1–0 0–0 1–1 2–1 1–0 1–0
Melaka United 0–1 1–3 2–1 1–2 2–1 0–0 1–1 2–3 0–0 2–0 1–1
Penang 0–3 1–1 1–0 2–1 2–1 2–1 1–1 1–4 3–0 2–2 0–0
Perak 2–2 1–1 0–0 0–1 3–5 0–0 2–1 0–3 2–3 0–2 3–2
Petaling Jaya City 0–2 1–5 2–2 2–2 1–1 0–1 1–0 1–2 1–0 0–3 1–0
Sabah 1–4 0–1 1–1 3–1 0–3 2–1 0–1 0–6 2–2 2–1 4–0
Selangor 1–3 1–2 1–1 1–1 0–2 3–1 1–2 2–2 3–1 1–2 2–0
Sri Pahang 0–2 2–2 0–2 1–1 1–2 0–2 1–0 2–1 2–2 1–1 5–0
Terengganu 0–1 1–2 1–0 1–1 1–4 5–0 0–0 0–0 3–1 2–0 3–0
UiTM 0–4 0–1 1–1 0–3 0–1 2–0 0–1 4–0 0–2 1–0 1–2
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

Top goalscorers

As of matches played 12 September 2021[26]
Rank Player Club Goals[27]
1 Bahrain Ifedayo Olusegun Selangor 26
2 Brazil Bergson da Silva Johor Darul Ta'zim 23
3 Liberia Kpah Sherman Kedah Darul Aman 13
4 Brazil Casagrande Penang 12
5 Ivory Coast Kipré Tchétché Kedah Darul Aman 10
Brazil Paulo Josué Kuala Lumpur City
7 Brazil David da Silva Terengganu 7
Malaysia Baddrol Bakhtiar Kedah Darul Aman
Ghana Nana Poku UiTM/Perak
10 Switzerland Oliver Buff Selangor 6
Tajikistan Sheriddin Boboev Penang

Hat-trick

As of matches played 12 September 2021
Player For Against Result Date
Bahrain Ifedayo Olusegun Selangor Perak 3–1 (H) 10 April 2021
Brazil Bergson da Silva Johor Darul Ta'zim Perak 5–0 (H) 31 July 2021
Brazil Rafael Vitor Penang Perak 5–3 (A) 3 August 2021
Ghana Nana Poku Perak Penang 3–5 (H) 3 August 2021
Bahrain Ifedayo Olusegun Selangor Kedah Darul Aman 4–2 (A) 14 August 2021
Brazil Bergson da Silva Johor Darul Ta'zim Sri Pahang 3–0 (H) 27 August 2021
Bahrain Ifedayo Olusegun Selangor Sabah 6–0 (A) 5 September 2021

Notes (H) – Home team (A) – Away team

Top assists

As of matches played 12 September 2021
Rank Player Club Assists
1 Ivory Coast Kipre Tchetche Kedah Darul Aman 14
2 Brazil Endrick Penang 11
3 Malaysia Safiq Rahim Johor Darul Ta'zim 8
Switzerland Oliver Buff Selangor
5 Brazil Paulo Josué Kuala Lumpur City 7
Brazil Casagrande Penang
7 Argentina Gonzalo Cabrera Johor Darul Ta'zim 6
Myanmar Hein Htet Aung Selangor
Mali Makan Konate Terengganu
Haiti Sony Norde Melaka United

Clean Sheets

As of matches played 12 September 2021
Rank Player Club Clean sheets
1

Malaysia Farizal Marlias

Johor Darul Ta'zim 11
2 Malaysia Suhaimi Husin Terengganu 8
Malaysia Kalamullah Al-Hafiz Petaling Jaya City
4 Philippines Kevin Ray Mendoza Kuala Lumpur City 7
5 Malaysia Sam Somerville Penang 6

Discipline

As of matches played 12 September 2021

Overall

Players

Club

See also

References

  1. ^ "Johor Darul Ta'zim win 8th consecutive Malaysia Super League title". ESPN. 17 September 2021. Retrieved 27 August 2021.
  2. ^ "Kedah naib juara, Penang ketiga Liga Super". Utusan Malaysia (in Malay). 17 September 2021. Retrieved 12 September 2021.
  3. ^ "Stadium Sultan Ibrahim". StadiumDB.com. Retrieved 4 December 2019.
  4. ^ "Stadium Darul Aman". Perbadanan Stadium-Stadium Negeri Kedah Darul Aman. Retrieved 4 November 2017.
  5. ^ "Stadium Hang Jebat". Perbadanan Stadium Melaka. Archived from the original on 25 January 2021. Retrieved 4 November 2017.
  6. ^ "Perak to play at Lumut Stadium in 2018". Stadium Astro. Retrieved 11 January 2018.
  7. ^ "Sejarah SAFA". The Tambadau. Retrieved 5 November 2017.
  8. ^ "Stadium Darul Makmur". StadiumDB.com. Retrieved 3 November 2017.
  9. ^ "Kenali pasukan Terengganu". Sinar Harian. Retrieved 3 November 2017.
  10. ^ "UiTM Stadium". InfoMap24. Retrieved 5 November 2017.[permanent dead link]
  11. ^ "Nike terus taja jersi pasukan JDT". BH Online. 12 January 2017. Retrieved 2 November 2017.
  12. ^ "Karsten Neitzel appointed Selangor head coach".
  13. ^ "Coaching licence issue leaves Penang and Sabah coachless".
  14. ^ "Devan heads back to coach Negri for third time".
  15. ^ "Phoenix believe they can rise with youth to meet new challenges".
  16. ^ "Sabah FC announce Lucas Kalang as head coach".
  17. ^ "Ex-AFC Leopards coach appointed to lead Penang FC in Malaysia".
  18. ^ "Ex-AFC Leopards coach appointed to lead Penang FC in Malaysia".
  19. ^ "five days before Christmas, Verdon, Lucas and Jelius resigned from their positions".
  20. ^ "Kurniawan ready to coach Rhinos again".
  21. ^ "Bojan dalam radar KL".
  22. ^ "Perak coach Mehmet Durakovic's contract likely to be terminated".
  23. ^ "Pahang's Dooley sidelined, Dollah back in charge".
  24. ^ "Bernhardt joins the ranks of the 'rested'".
  25. ^ "Siaran Media: MELAKA UNITED DIKENAKAN HUKUMAN PEMOTONGAN TIGA MATA LIGA SUPER 2021". FAM.
  26. ^ "Penjaring gol Liga Super 2021". Liga Malaysia. Retrieved 16 May 2021.
  27. ^ "Top scorers". Football Association of Malaysia. Retrieved 16 September 2021.

External links

Malaysia Super League
2021 in Malaysian football
2021 in Asian football (AFC)
Categories