Johor Darul Ta’zim v Port FC: the home result that still has to come

Port FC are the visitors at Sultan Ibrahim Stadium in Iskandar Puteri when the third round of the AFC Champions League league stage reaches Johor Darul Ta’zim on 27 October 2026.

The Johor side arrive unbeaten in this campaign, with a draw and a win from their opening two league-stage matches. The draw came first, 1-1 at home to Buriram United on 15 September. The win came away, 2-0 against Pohang Steelers on 13 October. Put side by side, those two results say something slightly awkward for a club playing on its own ground: so far, the better half of the campaign has been the half played away from it.

Two results, read closely

Against Buriram United, Johor Darul Ta’zim went ahead in the 26th minute through Oscar Arribas, with Marcos Guilherme credited with the assist. Stefan Schimmer equalised for the visitors in the 43rd minute, from Darlan Pereira Mendes’s pass. Neither side scored again, and the points were shared.

In Pohang the goals arrived later. Marcos Guilherme opened the scoring in the 49th minute from Shahab Zahedi’s pass, and he added the second in the 89th minute. That is a lead built in the second half and protected to the whistle, with a clean sheet on the road.

One name runs through both matches. Marcos Guilherme set up the opener against Buriram United and scored both goals in Pohang, so every Johor Darul Ta’zim goal in the league stage so far has carried his name as scorer or provider.

Away from the continent

The domestic cup has kept the squad busy too. Johor Darul Ta’zim won the first leg of their Malaysia FA Cup semi-final 2-0 against DPMM FC, Utusan Malaysia reported. The Malaysian Football League’s own highlights page records the same scoreline, DPMM FC 0-2 Johor Darul Ta’zim. According to Utusan Malaysia, the second leg is set for Sultan Ibrahim Stadium on 8 November.

What decides it?

The tempting reading is that a side unbeaten in the competition only has to turn up at home. The results do not back that. The one match Johor Darul Ta’zim have not won in this league stage was the home match, and it was level from the 43rd minute to the end.

The real point is narrower, and it has two parts.

The first is the shape of the fixture list. After Port FC, the league stage sends Johor Darul Ta’zim to Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors in Jeonju on 3 November and to Ratchaburi on 24 November. The next home date after this one is 1 December, against Daejeon Hana Citizen. The stage then pauses until February 2027, with a trip to Newcastle Jets on 9 February and a home match against Công An Nhân Dân on 16 February. In this competition, this is the last home match until December.

The second is where the goals have come from. Arribas and Guilherme have scored for Johor Darul Ta’zim in this league stage, and Guilherme’s part in all of it is the clearest pattern the two matches show. If Port FC can keep him quiet, the question becomes who else carries the scoring; against Buriram United, nobody did after the 26th minute.

StraitScore’s view: this match is less about the visitors than about whether the home side can finally make Iskandar Puteri count in this campaign. The away win in Pohang showed the team can protect a lead. The home draw with Buriram United showed it can also let one slip. Which of those two sides turns up is the story of the evening.

Johor Darul Ta’zim and Port FC kick off at Sultan Ibrahim Stadium, Iskandar Puteri, at 6pm Malaysian time on 27 October 2026.