Johor FC booked their ticket to the Malaysia Cup quarter-finals with a hard-fought 3-2 win over Police in their penultimate Group B match at the JCorp Stadium in Pasir Gudang last night. Johor FC now leading the group table with one point difference over Kedah.

Argentinian striker Gustavo Fuentes, a former Public Bank player was the leading actor for Johor FC when he scored a brace, including the 80th-minute winner after both teams were coupled at 2-2.

Police, who needed a win last night to authenticate their quarter-final berth, took the lead after 10 minutes through Mohd Norfarhan Mohd.

Gustavo Fuentes came to Johor FC’s salvage when he netted the equalizer in the 41st minute.

Two minutes after the restart, the home team went 2-1 up with a Mohd Nurul Azwan strike.

Police fought back and equalized through their Kenyan magnificent striker Hillary Echesa in the 56th minute.

Johor FC, who needed just a point to qualify, refused to sit back and sealed qualification in style – thanks to Fuentes’ late goal.

Johor FC lead Group B with 20 points from nine matches while defending champions Kedah, who have also qualified, are in second spot on 18 points.

Police, third with15 points, are now in danger of missing the cut unless they can collect full points against Sabah in their final group match at the Likas Stadium on Aug 2.

The other teams who have established their Malaysia Cup quarter-final tickets are Perlis, Perak and UPB-MyTeam from Group C and Group A leaders Selangor.

The top two teams in the three-group preliminaries and the best two third-placed finishers will be eligible for the quarter-finals.