| Fadhil Yunus |
DPMM FC Head Coach Rene Weber expressed confidence of meeting a higher target in the business end of the Singapore Premier League season after their 2-1 victory over Tampines Rovers assured them of a top-four spot on Saturday night.
The ‘Gegar-Gegar’ men met their top-four target which Weber initially sets at the start of the season as a win against a direct rival allowed them to stretch their unbeaten run to seven games in all competitions.
Victory against the Stags cut DPMM FC’s gap to two points with two games of the season remaining. Tampines have one game left and must win their final fixture against Home United, who also share a similar ambition of snatching the runners-up spot.
“We are trying to finish third or even second in the league. We have two games to go in the league against Balestier Khalsa and Young Lions, and if we beat these two teams we can reach our target,” said Weber in a post-match interview with the Bulletin.
“They are strong teams but I am happy about Saturday’s result. It is important for us to get the three points,” he added.
“We could take more off the ball with two more players than them and I also know that when the opponent lose one or two players, it’s like die or survive,” added the former Brazil under-20 team manager.
When asked about his thoughts of Azwan Ali’s sending off which meant he is likely to miss the league clash against Balestier Khalsa this coming Saturday, he replied, “I think any referee around the world at that moment will be giving two red cards to them (Tampines Rovers) and send off another from the opponent.
“We took three points and now we must rest because we have so many games. Every three days, we have a game and we go to Singapore now to play on Wednesday, and after that on Saturday against the same opponent, and then next Wednesday.”
He added, “We have no complaints and I want to congratulate the players because it means we keep our target on track (third or second place finish) and I hope we can take that.”
Meanwhile, Tampines Rovers Head Coach Juergen Rabb seemed content with most aspects of his team’s performance apart from the determination to get the goals.
“I think we played well in the first half. We have it all under control which for an away match, it was really good. We create some chances but there’s a little bit of the problem with our determination which is necessary to score,” said the head coach.
“The other things were good, the build-up and other things. I said we must continue and we will create the chances.
“In the second half, it was too easy how the opponent can score. Losing the ball in a dangerous area is too easy. For the first goal, we have to clear the ball but we cleared it to their number 10 (Volodymyr), and he was free.
“The second was the same. The ball was in the midfield, and under no pressure we gave them the ball.”
He added, “These problems and the red card for Farra (Fahrudin Mustafic) were too easy. But the reaction from the players when they were down was fantastic.”