Written By: Kenneth Ho

Home United Philippe Aw felt his team can only blame themselves for losing 3-2 to Brunei DPMM despite dominating the first leg of the RHB Singapore Cup semi-final.

The Protectors had 21 shots in total, compared to just eight for the Wasps, but found themselves on the losing end instead after a poor defensive performance.

Aw did not mince his words at the post-match press conference as he called the result “very disappointing”.

“I’m very disappointed, if we played badly then it’s acceptable,” Aw stated.

“But we dominated [the game]. We shot ourselves in the foot, those goals were a gift and I am sure everyone would agree with me that they were lucky to have this victory.

“We came into this game and we know how Brunei would come and play. The goals we conceded – we know how they would play but yet we conceded and it costed us the victory.”

However, Aw believes that his team can overturn the tie, especially if they put on a better defensive performance while retaining their attacking threats.

“There’s still a second leg to play. Of course you would want to go into the second leg with a good result but this one-goal deficit is something that we can overcome,” Aw said.

“If we can repeat this performance – of course, defensively we need to show up – we can win by two goals and still qualify for the final.”

DPMM coach Steve Kean admitted his charges were not up to par, but he was still satisfied with the way his players managed to craft out a win.

“I thought at this stage of the competition, the delay has affected everybody,” Kean mentioned.

“We didn’t pass the ball as well as we normally do, they pressed very well.

“The big factor today was that we didn’t have many chances but we were clinical against a team that kept the ball very well.

“They had some chances and a lot of possession, but from our side of the game, their goals were easy.”

Kean is also of the opinion that the victory proves how good they can be if they are able to perform to their usual standards.

“We can play better and we know that,” Kean shared.

“It gives us an opportunity now that we know if we can step up to our normal standards, then we can comfortably get ourselves another victory and advance.”